Life's Still Complicated (A sequel)
by SilverTears13
Summary: Now that Lily and James are together and Sirius and Remus are paying close attention to girls again, everybody should be happy, right? Wrong. James doesn’t want his buds to think a girl could change him. Pretty soon, he’s too busy with the Marauders
1. A *Black* summer!

The sequel to "Life's Like This." This is called "Life's Still Complicated."  
  
Disclaimer: I LOVE the Harry Potter series and I'd do anything to own all the stuff.the plot, the characters, the world. But I respect JK and I won't take it away from her! In Ron's words, she's BLOODY BRILLIANT to have thought of all this!!!!!! I only own Ali, Bree, Ashlee, Sierra and Taylor!!  
  
AND NOOOO, this isn't a songfic to Complicated again! It's just called this cuz I can't think of a better title!  
  
The REAL Summary: Now that Lily and James are together and Sirius and Remus are paying close attention to girls again, everybody should be happy, right? Wrong. James doesn't want his buds to think a girl could change him. Pretty soon, he's too busy with the Marauders to even think about Lily. Trouble. . . Plus there's a popular chick that's after James, and with Lily feeling left out and unimportant, she wouldn't mind giving James up. Remus is falling for Sirius's sister, Sierra, and Sirius is trying to be a good big bro and a good boyfriend to Lily's best friend, Ali. What next?  
  
*~*~*~ Chapter 1: A Black summer! (hehehee)*~*~*  
  
'Twas the summer of 6th year. (A/N: "'Twas," hehehe I know!!!)  
  
Lily Evans felt the warm sun melting into her skin as morning came. The 16- year-old rolled over in her sleeping bag on the floor of her friend's house. She slowly opened her eyes and let the sun peek in through the window while she gradually woke up. She started getting hot inside the fluffy sleeping bag, so she sat up, feeling a lot better in her cute P.J tank top and baggy P.J pants. She checked the clock - 7:43 am. She glanced over her shoulder and saw her boyfriend sleeping peacefully in another sleeping bag next to hers.  
  
Next to James, she gazed at his best friend, Sirius, sleeping on his own bed, but lying above the covers. Lily gaped at the sight above her - lying gently on top of Sirius, in a green sleeping bag was Ali, Lily's best friend. It was cute; Ali's head resting on Sirius's chest and his arms draped around her waist while they both slept on.  
  
And then of course, Remus was lying about 1 foot away from Lily, also sound asleep. Lily smiled to herself. She was very pleased to be at Sirius's house for the rest of the summer, and even more pleased that her parents had decided to treat themselves to a vacation in Spain. Mr. and Mrs. Evans weren't the happiest people in the world, finding out that James Potter -the boy they'd known since he was born at the hospital, and they're best friends' son -had stolen their baby's heart. And friend of the family or not, James had to deal with Mr. Evans's "talk." Of course, James hadn't minded - as long as he could see Lily, it was ok with him.  
  
So after being reassured thousands of times by her daughter about James, Mrs. Evans talked Mr. Evans into going to Spain with her. Lily would have stayed with James's family, but the Potters' were feeling just as the Evans' were, so it was decided that the new teenage couple should give their families time to get used to this. And it just so happened that Sirius's family had invited some of their other friends to stay with them, too. So it was perfect.  
  
Lily's thoughts were suddenly stopped when she felt a pair of arms sliding around her waist and a chin resting on her shoulder. She gasped, taken by surprise, but knowing it was James. She turned and kissed him good morning. James broke his girlfriend's kiss, smiling sweetly, and motioned for them to go into the hallway. Silently, the two walked from the room, ditching their sleeping friends. Lily giggled when they were out of the room.  
  
"G'morning," she murmured happily.  
  
"Good morning to you, Miss Evans," James answered back. Lily grinned.  
  
"Did you see Sirius and Ali?"  
  
"Duh," James said, laughing quietly. "They're kind of hard to miss, don't you think?"  
  
"I think it great that Sirius's found someone. I mean, it'll leave more time for us," Lily whispered mischievously. They both grinned face-to- face, and James dipped Lily down while she wrapped her arms around his neck. James leaned in to kiss her, as did Lily to him, when they heard a noise coming from they room they'd just left. They both tilted their heads and saw their three friends emerging from the bedroom. Remus was rubbing is eyes sleepily and yawning.  
  
"It's too early," he moaned. Then noticing the position his friends were frozen in, he smirked and said "But it's never to early to start snogging, right?"  
  
"Shut up," James and Lily said together, blushing slightly and letting each other stand up straight. Sirius and Ali joined in laughing with Remus.  
  
"Yeah, what a way to start the day." Ali muttered, smiling. Lily rounded on her best friend.  
  
"Oh? And what about you and Sirius? Sleeping in the same bed.you on him? Can't keep away from each other for one second can you?" Lily said snidely.  
  
"It's not our fault we fell asleep on each other!" Ali said loudly.  
  
"Uh-huh, why were you guys even in the position to begin with?" James insisted.  
  
"We just - " Sirius began, but he was cut off by another girl walking into the room. The girl patted down her long dark brown hair and walked to where the others were.  
  
"Siri, shut it," she growled.  
  
"Sorry, Sierra," Sirius grinned. Sierra was Sirius's sister, and she was in 5th year. Only one year younger, she and her brother got along relatively well, but Sierra wasn't a morning person. Sierra yawned loudly.  
  
"So, how'd you lot sleep?" she asked politely.  
  
"Well," Remus said, smiling good-naturedly at her.  
  
"Ok," James said.  
  
"Great," Lily answered.  
  
"Very comfy," Ali said. At this everyone burst out laughing. "What? It WAS comfy!" Ali exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah," Lily choked out "Sleeping on SIRIUS was comfy!"  
  
Sierra's eyebrows shot up and she started giggling. "Just how comfy did you get with your dear friend Ali last night, huh, Sirius?"  
  
Sirius was blushing and glaring at all his friends. "Shut up," was all he said. ~ 


	2. A Trip to the Alley

*~*Chapter 2: Shopping at the Alley~*~  
  
(A/N: I'm adding one chapter everyday, but since this is the first day of my fic, I'm starting off with 3 chapters. . .)  
  
Everyone ambled downstairs and moved into the kitchen, where they saw Mrs. Black cooking up some breakfast. "Good Morning, everyone," she said brightly.  
  
"'Morning!" everybody answered back. "So, you lot going to go and pick up stuff from Diagon Alley today? You only have two weeks left of summer."  
  
"Ahh, Mum, don't remind us!" Sirius groaned.  
  
"Back to pop quizzes, detention, and teachers with bad breath," Lily muttered.  
  
"Hey," James said defensively "I like detention! It credits all of our fine work."  
  
"And it leaves us time to plan for a new prank to pull," Remus offered.  
  
"I suppose we should get to Diagon Alley soon," Ali said.  
  
"Yeah," Sirius added in an off-hand way.  
  
~*~*~*~ At Diagon Alley.  
  
"Ok, I need to buy new quills and ink," Lily said.  
  
"Me too!" James said quickly. Lily arched an eyebrow at her boyfriend.  
  
"But you just -" she started, but James cut her off.  
  
"I lost all the ones I bought."  
  
"Oh, really."  
  
"Uh.yeah."  
  
"Lil, he just wants to follow you," Remus said exasperatedly.  
  
James smiled. "Can you blame me?"  
  
"I want to buy my new books right away!" Ali said excitedly. She loved reading about the magical world more than anyone did, because she was Muggle-born and the wizarding world still fascinated her.  
  
"Oh, uh, we can pick up everyone else's books too, since we'll be there," Sirius suggested. "I'll come too, to help you carry the books and stuff."  
  
Ali looked at him in surprise. "That's really thoughtful of you, Sirius," she said truthfully.  
  
Sirius grinned shyly.  
  
"All I need is new potion ingredients," Remus said, wrinkling his nose. "I hate that store."  
  
"Me too," Sierra agreed. "But I've got to get some lace wing and newts eyes."  
  
"Ok, so it's decided. James and I will go to Flourish and Blotts for quills and ink and parchment; Sirius and Ali will go to the bookstore to get everyone's books (and don't worry, we'll all pay you guys back); Remus and Sierra will go off to the Apothecary together. All set? Ok, we'll meet back at the Leaky Cauldron in.one hour and 45 minutes?" Lily instructed. Everyone nodded in agreement and they set off. 


	3. Where is everyone?

*~*~Chapter 3: Where is everyone?*~*~  
  
  
  
**. . .Lily and James. . .**  
  
  
  
"Ok.these are cool quills," Lily remarked, fingering a fancy eagle feathered quill. She pick one up, examined it, and decided to take it. Lily walked by a section for parchment, found some school paper and walked on to the ink. She found a typical jar set of 12 black inks. Then she noticed a package of 6 colored inks. One writing in rainbow colors and the rest were flashy, shiny solid colors. James saw her looking at it and then she sighed, dropped it, and walked on. Lily walked to another isle and was searching for some new stationary, while James picked up the inks and fished out a simple, but pretty journal-type thing. He carried these items to the front, paid them, and waited for Lily to make her purchases. Finally, they both walked out into the bright sunlight outside.  
  
"Want an ice cream?" James offered. The redhead glanced up as they were nearing Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. "Sure," she said sweetly.  
  
They walked towards the place, and ordered a peppermint ice cream and a chocolate ice cream. Lily sat on a bench when they walked on a little ways, setting down her purchases and licking her ice cream contently.  
  
"Thanks for the ice cream, James!"  
  
"I got you something," James said, smiling shyly.  
  
"You did? Something besides the ice cream?" Lily asked. James nodded and pulled out the inks and journal and handed them to her. Lily sighed and beamed, gratefully taking the journal at hand and studying it. "Oh, thanks, James," she said, hugging him.  
  
"Well, I thought you could use the journal. You still like to write songs, right?"  
  
"Yeah, 'course I do."  
  
"And you can write 'em in here.with nice ink."  
  
"I love it!"  
  
The happy couple smiled at each other and kissed.  
  
*^*%*  
  
**. . .Sirius and Ali. . .**  
  
  
  
It was cool and dark inside the bookstore.  
  
"So what do we need to buy?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Uh.well, we all need the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6.And Grade 5 for Sierra. And then." Ali said uncertainly.  
  
"Then I think we need the books for Study of Ancient Runes.and Arithmancy -" Sirius began.  
  
"Ugh, is that required this year?" Ali said hotly.  
  
"Yeah, dang it, huh?" Sirius agreed.  
  
"And Lily and I are taking advanced Care of Magical Creatures," Ali said, trying to help Sirius remember more.  
  
"James and I are too," Sirius added quickly. "And Remus. And we need Sierra's books, but I know her classes by heart - all her books are over there," he said, pointing.  
  
"Great, ok there's what we need." Ali and Sirius bought books for their group and headed out, carrying 6 huge bags.  
  
"How much time do we have left?" Ali asked the boy next to her. Sirius checked his watch.  
  
"We've got 45 minutes. Want to get something to eat? My treat," he said, grinning.  
  
"Sure," Ali said, smiling back. In all truth, she liked Sirius just as much as he liked her. And that was a lot. Things had changed last year after Lily and James had gotten together, and no one could figure out what. But neither of them knew this yet, of course. *~*~*  
  
**. . .Remus and Sierra. . .**  
  
At the Apothecary, Remus and Sierra were marching in silence, hunting for potion ingredients, both pretending to be completely absorbed in the search. Remus kept throwing careful glances at Sierra. He'd known her for years, whenever he came over to Sirius's house and all. But he'd never really gotten to know her. He watched as her back was to him, her dark brown, almost black hair hanging loosely at her waist. She seemed to sense someone watching her because suddenly she swiveled around and the two teenagers connected eyesight for a spilt second. They both blushed and turned back around.  
  
Sierra thought 'Why was he staring at me?' She'd always really liked Remus, possibly more than a friend, but she never got to know him that well. Maybe there was still hope for her.'but why would he like me?' She thought. 'He's Sirius's friend, I mean, he's probably just like him.and, well.I dunno.'  
  
"Er.Sierra?" Remus said shortly after.  
  
"Yeah?" she said anxiously.  
  
"We've got about half an hour left, wanna go get something to eat?"  
  
"Sure! I'm starved!" Sierra exclaimed. They bought their stuff and left the dark, creepy store into the blinding sunlight of the outdoors.  
  
(A/N: Tune in tomorrow for chapter 4! I'm uploading a chapter a day from now on. . .R/R!) 


	4. Summer Love and Summer Anger

~*~*~Chapter 4: Summer Love and Summer Anger*~*~  
  
  
  
**. . .James and Lily. . .**  
  
10 minutes later, the cute new couple was still snogging under the sun. Good thing not too many people came this way, otherwise they'd be making quite a scene. Suddenly, James felt a tap on his shoulder, which startled him. He jumped and they two broke apart, turning to see who'd interrupted their moment.  
  
"Sirius," James moaned, just as Lily said, "Alison!" Sirius and Ali were holding drinks and hot dogs in their hands.  
  
(A/N: I realize this is American food, but.work with me here. They have hot dogs in Britain!)  
  
"I told you they couldn't stay away from each other for one frikin' second," Sirius said, somewhat triumphantly.  
  
James grinned and said, "Well, how d'you expect me to stay away from this beauty?"  
  
Lily smiled faintly and traces of pink could be seen on her cheeks. But she regained herself.  
  
"And you want me to stay away from this handsome prince? C'mon, what d'you expect from me?" Lily said, pinching James's cheek and making him give his puppy dog look. Sirius pretended to hurl.  
  
"Ok, ok, whatever. Everybody loves everybody. Now can we go find Remus and Sierra please? I'm gonna puke for real if someone says anything mushy around me again," Sirius said irritably. Ali giggled.  
  
"I second that," she said.  
  
*~*~*  
  
**. . .Remus and Sierra. . .**  
  
"So you like Avril Lavigne, too?" Remus said disbelievingly.  
  
"Yeah! She's so cool!" Sierra gushed.  
  
"I can't believe it, I mean, you're like, the only other person I know who actually listens to American Muggle music," Remus confessed. "My friends don't even care that much about music."  
  
"Same here," Sierra said.  
  
"Wow, we have a lot in common, don't we?" Remus said. This was his chance. 'Tell her you like her,' He thought. 'Wait. Did I just admit I liked her? Yikes, freaky. Ok. . .yes, I like her. Sirius's sister. Oh man.'  
  
"Yeah, guess so," Sierra said quietly. 'Tell him you like him - correction, you've liked him for a long time!' She instructed herself.  
  
"I have to say -" they both said at the same time.  
  
"You go first," Remus said courteously.  
  
"No, you," Sierra insisted.  
  
"No, well -" They two teens looked down at the floor for a spilt second and responded at the same time.  
  
"I like you," they both said together. They locked eyes.  
  
"You do?" Remus mused. "YOU do? Both of us like.I mean.we like each other? That's kinda cool," he said happy and nervous at the same time.  
  
Sierra gaped at Remus without saying anything. "Sierra," Remus said. "Hellooooo," he muttered, waving a hand in front of her face. Sierra grabbed his hand and pulled him into a kiss. Starting innocent maybe, but pretty soon they were so close together you couldn't tell where either one began, they just looked whole.  
  
Suddenly, Sirius, James, Ali and Lily burst onto the scene, laughing about something, but they all froze when they saw Remus and Sierra. James and Lily exchanged nervous glances and then stared at Sirius; Ali just looked, wide-eyed at her crush next to her. Sirius had his eyes narrowed, fists clenched and teeth grinding. Sirius started stomping over to where his sister and friend were, but James knew what he'd best do. "Moony!" he yelled at his bud. Remus and Sierra broke apart. Out of breath and startled, they both saw Sirius making his way to them  
  
"Oh, shity-darn, shity-darn, shity-darn," Sierra muttered.  
  
"Whoa-oh," Remus answered. They looked at each other and smiled. At the same time, they stood up and ran behind the restaurant and somewhere out of sight. Sirius stopped when they ran and he rounded on James.  
  
"Why the hell'd you yell, James?!?" he demanded.  
  
"Sirius, calm down -" Lily began.  
  
"Calm down? My sister's being snogged by one of my best friends! There's nothing to calm down about!" he yelled.  
  
"Don't yell at her!" James shouted back, defensively.  
  
"You stay out of this!" Sirius shouted. "If you guys hadn't been messin' around we would have gotten here sooner!"  
  
"Sirius, shut the hell up!" James screamed, pushing his friend away from him.  
  
"Don't touch me!" Sirius spat.  
  
"You guys, stop arguing!" Lily pleaded.  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"DON'T YELL AT HER! OR ME!"  
  
"You can't -"  
  
"YOU GUYS, STOP!!" Ali screeched. Everyone silenced.  
  
"Ok, this is no one's fault, alright? Sirius, just cool your jets for a sec. Remus and Sierra have as much right to do that as Lily and James do, so don't be getting all overprotective of her. These are our last weeks of the summer together, all in the same house I might add, so let's not get in a fight. We need to go find Remus and Sierra so we can go home, calmly. Got it?" she said firmly. Sirius cowered under her furious stare. "We'll get an answer out of them later. And Sirius, you're staying with me. I don't want anyone freaking Sierra and Remus out more than they might already be."  
  
James and Lily went to find Remus and Sierra, while Ali and Sirius stayed behind and sat down. Sirius breathed hard and hid his face in his hands.  
  
"Sirius, it's ok," Ali cooned softly, placing her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"No it isn't. I shouldn't have blown up at everyone. And Sierra's probably even madder at me than Remus is -"  
  
"Sierra's your sister. She'll forgive you. But you do have to apologize."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Just chill for a bit, ok?"  
  
"Yeah. . . And Ali?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No prob."  
  
(A/N: Heheheee, I had fun writing that chapter! Compliments to the word *shity-darn*. my friend Britany and I made it up.teehehee. I usually don't swear THAT much, but I mean, they were in trouble, I had to use our word!! I imagine Sirius kind of like Ron -overprotective about his sister and really worried about guys liking her. . .R/R!!!) 


	5. Remus and Sierra

*~*~*Chapter 5: Remus and Sierra *~*~*  
  
Lily and James rushed around to different places in Diagon Alley. Finally, after about 20 minutes of pursuing their friends, they heard familiar voices.  
  
"He had no right whatsoever to do that," they heard Sierra saying.  
  
"Look, it's my fault. I knew what was at stake if. . .well, I've always known that if any of Sirius's friends had anything to do with you for more than just friends, he'd blow. I mean, he really loves you. He just doesn't want you to get hurt," Remus said comfortingly. Lily motioned for James to follow her silently.  
  
"I know. But I mean, I'm not a child. I'm 15, I can make my own decisions. He's only a year older!" Sierra exclaimed angrily.  
  
"Still. He thinks it's up to him to protect you. I mean, since. . .well. . ." Remus sounded uncomfortable. "Since your dad left and all, he's just. . .overprotective."  
  
Sierra sighed. "Yeah, I figured that. But I'm glad I've got you with me."  
  
Lily inched her way behind a brick wall separating them from Remus and Sierra.  
  
"I know I probably shouldn't be saying this, I mean, I've only known you by sight before now. . .but. . Sierra, I love you."  
  
Lily and James ceased their walking quickly. Sierra was silent. Probably smiling or something, Lily thought. "I love you too, Remus," she said softly.  
  
Remus laughed quietly. "Is this moving too fast? I mean, we've known each other -really known each other - for practically one day and we're already on 'I love yous.'"  
  
"Not too fast for me!" Sierra giggled. "I feel like I've known you for a long time though. I mean, we're almost exactly the same!"  
  
Suddenly, James gave a wobble and he toppled onto Lily, who fell, revealing themselves to their friends. Sierra and Remus were staring at them with wide-eyes and arched eyebrows.  
  
"Uh. . .hi," Lily said awkwardly. "Um. . .James, can you get off me?"  
  
"Oh, uh, sorry, yeah. . ." James stood and helped Lily to her feet. "Er. . .everyone's waiting for you guys. We've gotta go back home."  
  
"How long have you guys been listening?" Remus wanted to know.  
  
"Uhh. . .not very long."  
  
"How long is not very long?"  
  
"Er. . .like. . . 'Sirius has no right to behave like this. . .' exetera, exetera."  
  
Sierra glared at them. "We had no choice!" Lily insisted.  
  
"Whatever," Remus said. He stood, taking Sierra's hand to follow suit, and they walked back to where Sirius and Ali were. *~*~*  
  
Sirius looked up and saw his friends coming near them. He stood, as did Ali. Remus didn't look at Sirius, but Sierra just shot daggers at her brother. Sierra grabbed Remus's hand, just to make Sirius angry, but Sirius didn't seem too mad anymore.  
  
"Ok, you guys. We all need to talk before we get home. What's the dealio?" Ali asked impatiently. Remus spoke first. "Well, Sierra and I were just getting to know each other - "  
  
"And what happened to asking questions? You don't find out that much about people by making out with them - " Sirius interrupted.  
  
"Sirius, stop it," Ali ordered. He silenced. "Remus, continue."  
  
"I was just saying," Remus said, annoyed, "that Sierra and I had been talking and we got to know some things about each other. We're a lot alike, and we've liked each other before. So, I guess I don't understand why you're all making a big deal about this."  
  
"We're not. Sirius is just being protective of Sierra - that's all. And we're all just here to support you guys," Lily said calmly.  
  
"Sirius Jay Black, you had no right at all to behave the way you did," Sierra said severely.  
  
"I know," Sirius whispered, looking down. 'Wow', thought Sierra, 'he's actually letting himself be scolded by his little sister.' "I'm sorry, Sier. And - Moony, I'm sorry too, buddy."  
  
Remus and Sierra actually looked shocked. "So.are you like, ok with this?"  
  
"Well, I'll admit I'm not the happiest person in the world, but if it makes you guys happy. then 'course I am. And," Sirius added, looking at Remus "if any guy had to go out with my sister, I'm glad it'll be you."  
  
"Thanks, man," Remus said, smiling. The two boys did their Marauder hand shake (which involved slapping hands, snapping and spitting.) Ali, Sierra and Lily wrinkled their noses as the guys spit everywhere. "Ew. . .ok, you guys, let's go home," Lily said irritably. 


	6. Alison and Sirius

*~*Chapter 6: Alison and Sirius*~*  
  
(A/N: We're going to have to go through this whole 'you like me? I like you too!' thing again. . .so bare with me!  
  
Also, thanks SOOOOOOOO much to all the reviewers! This means soooo much to me!!!!!!!!  
  
Precis- Thanks!! **sniff** Thank you!!!  
  
TFG- Hey girl. . .Thanks! Teehee **laughs evily** Als, your chapter is coming up here. . .muuuahahaaa  
  
Kirbee- Thanx!!!! Yay! I'm funny!!!!  
  
Quinn- Lolz, maybe I'll post up to chapter 8. . . 3 extra chapters just for you good enough?? Hehehe, you won't finish it. . .but it's extra!!! LOLZ!  
  
Kelly- Oky doky!!! Hehehe thanks!!  
  
Tess: *giggles* thank you!!  
  
Helloo- Mis, did you even read this thing???????????? Crazy little duda. . . lolz  
  
Roxy Angel- Teehee **sigh** They love me! They really love me!!!!~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As soon as everyone got home, they all assembled into Sirius's large room. Everyone flopped down onto their sleeping bags, examining their purchases or talking quietly to each other. Remus lay comfortably on his azure sleeping bag, and Sierra nestled herself on him, resting her head on his shoulder. Lily and Ali were discussing what color nail polish they should do their nails in; Sirius and James were thinking about how much money they should bring to Hogwarts, enough to supply them with a year's worth of Zonko products. Sirius kept on throwing spiteful glances at Sierra, to make sure Remus wasn't doing anything he shouldn't be. Sierra noticed this of course, and said loudly "Sirius, I'm FINE!"  
  
Sirius looked outraged. "What are you talking about?" he asked indignantly. "I never asked how you were."  
  
"You keep on looking over here -he's not going to do anything to me, ok!?"  
  
Sirius sighed. "I know," he grumbled. But he kept on doing it, and this time, everyone was aware of it.  
  
"Sirius, STOP!" Everyone yelled at the exact same time. Sirius blushed. "Ok, ok.jeez."  
  
Lily had enough. It'd be betraying her friend, but. . .Ali would get over it. "Sirius, if someone liked you, would you stop worrying about Sierra so much?" Lily asked. Sirius thought. "No completely, but it would help."  
  
Lily exchanged a look with Ali saying 'I'm going to tell'. Ali's eyes widened. She shook her head quickly. But Lily paid no heed. "Fine then. Sirius, Ali likes you."  
  
Everyone was quiet. Ali was turning a vermilion sort of color. Everybody was looking back from Ali's red face to Sirius's shocked one. "Er. . .I think I'm going to go now. . .these two might want a few moments alone," Sierra said suddenly, sensing her brother's discomfort.  
  
"Yeah, me too," Remus added, scurrying up with her. Sierra jabbed her head sharply towards the door.  
  
"Oh yeah! Ditto," James finally said dejectedly. It was very entertaining to him to watch Sirius writhe in uneasiness -after all; he'd had to sing to Lily before, Sirius laughing his head off at him.  
  
"I will too," Lily said. The four trooped out, no doubt heading for Sierra's room.  
  
Once Sirius and Ali were left alone, he asked, "Was she serious? Do you -I mean. . ." Ali spared him having to repeat the news. She nodded, keeping her head bowed.  
  
"So you -I mean. . .you like. . .me?" Sirius added, still disbelieving.  
  
"Yes, Sirius, yes! Don't make me repeat if for you!" Ali cried, burning with humiliation.  
  
"Then why are you saying it like it's punishment?" he said gently.  
  
"'Cause you don't like me. And I'm. . .kind of embarrassed." Ali said truthfully.  
  
Sirius laughed. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Als!" he exclaimed. "I started liking you too, I mean, at the end of last year."  
  
Ali looked up. "You did?"  
  
"Yeah! Some of it had to do with Lily though. . ."  
  
Sirius slid off of his bed, sitting next to Ali on her sleeping bag. They looked at each other briefly, and then Sirius moved his face closer to hers, and he kissed her. Ali, extremely happy, pulled Sirius closer, hanging her hands around his neck. He took her waist and pulled her closer too. Their first kiss was a long one, until -"Aww, that was sooo cute!!!!" Sierra called aloud from the doorway. Sirius and Ali broke apart abruptly, their faces turning red. Their friends crowded back into the room.  
  
"Honestly, Padfoot, I had no idea you had the kissing charms I do," James said, laughing. "Yeah, and Ali -whooo -you go girl! I mean.I've never seen this side of you before!" Lily whooped.  
  
"Umm, is everything alright in here?" Mrs. Black said, poking her head into her son's room. She noticed Sirius and Ali's faces were crimson still.  
  
"Uh, yeah, everything's cool, mum," Sierra and Sirius said together.  
  
"Ok." Mrs. Black said skeptically. "Well, I was wondering -I have to go to this meeting for about 3 hours and I don't want you guys to stay home all alone, unless you want to - "  
  
"It's ok!" Everyone said at once. Mrs. Black raised an eyebrow. "I've left some money on the counter for pizza and maybe a movie rental. I'm leaving in a few minutes." Mrs. Black left the room.  
  
"Home alone.at night?" Remus said gleefully.  
  
"It's not night.it's only 8 o'clock! It's not even dark yet."  
  
"It'll start getting dark in about half an hour. I say we get a scary horror flick."  
  
"You only say that so that when the girls get scared, you guys can put your arms around us."  
  
"My point exactly!"  
  
**SIGH** all the three girls said.  
  
"Fine. I suggest we watch IT," Sierra said.  
  
"No way! Sier, you know that movie freaks me out!" Sirius yelled.  
  
"Hehe.exactly."  
  
"You're afraid of IT?" Ali asked, hiding her laughter.  
  
"Hey, you would be too if your mutant sister had turned your pet guinea pig into a freaky little clown."  
  
"I am NOT a mutant."  
  
"Clowns?? NO WAY!" Remus shouted.  
  
James just fidgeted nervously.  
  
"Ladies, looks like OUR men in shining armor are chicken," Lily teased.  
  
"We are NOT chicken," the boys all said.  
  
"Prove it," the girls hissed. 


	7. **Caught!**

*~*~*Chapter 7: Caught!*~*~*  
  
(A/N: This really is an unnecessary chapter. If you want to skip it you can, cuz the rest'll make sense without this. Just an FYI.)  
  
The 6 teenagers rented IT and began watching the film.  
  
(A/N: I interrupt this fic to say that I HATE the movie IT and clowns are very, very evil creatures. That is all.) (A/N: Oh yeah! And the boys are chicken on my behalf.)  
  
At the freaky parts, (which is the whole movie) the boys cowered in their seats, but stayed to watch to prove to the girls that they were manly. Lily kept on looking at James, who was white and horrified looking. She actually felt pity for him. Ali noticed the look on her boyfriend's face too. She took his hand and whispered, "We can stop the movie if you want."  
  
"No!" Sirius whispered back, though his voice shook. "It's just getting good."  
  
"You're freaking out,"  
  
"N-no, I'm not."  
  
Sierra, listening to their conversation, picked up one of her stuffed animals and shoved it in front of Sirius's face. "Boo!" she screamed.  
  
"FURBALL!! AHHHH!!!" Sirius yelped, tumbling off of his chair and into Ali's lap.  
  
"Sirius?" Ali laughed.  
  
Everyone started laughing and Lily stopped the movie and turned on the lights. "Furball? Was that your old guinea pig?"  
  
"Uhh.yeah," Sirius muttered, embarrassed.  
  
"Aw, how sweet!" Ali murmured, kissing Sirius gently. Sirius smiled, no longer freaked out. "Better?" she asked.  
  
"Much," Sirius answered.  
  
"Alright, enough of this," James said, cracking his knuckles.  
  
"Yeah, I'm tired of the movie anyway," Sierra said.  
  
"I'll second that," Remus offered quickly.  
  
"You didn't even want to watch!"  
  
"So?"  
  
Sierra sighed exasperatedly. Lily stood up to join James on the couch, plopping herself on his lap. "I'm going to go get ready for bed," Sirius said.  
  
"Me too, I need to get in there before you do, Siri," Ali added.  
  
The two exited the room.  
  
"I'm hungry," Sierra groaned. "Let me make you something," Remus offered, smiling. Sierra grinned, "Ok."  
  
"Guess it's just you and me, huh, Mr. Potter?" Lily murmured. "What to do.what to do." James just grinned. "Lily, don't play around," he said casually. "and quit stalling. You know I'm going to kiss you."  
  
Lily grinned as well. She slid in closer to him and they kissed, clearly enjoying every second of it and losing themselves in the moment.  
  
And clearly losing track of time, too.  
  
Suddenly, they heard a door burst open and a scream of, "SIERRA SYDNEY BLACK! WHAT IN HEAVENS NAME -"  
  
Remus and Sierra ran out into the living room, giving Lily and James frightened looks as Mrs. Black came inside, huffing and angry.  
  
"Never." she muttered, throwing a glance in Lily and James's way, obviously not enjoying the scene of Lily on James's lap, her hands on the back of his head, tangled in his hair.  
  
She marched over to Sirius's room and threw the door open, screaming more at the sight she saw.  
  
"SIRIUS JAY BLACK, YOU GET OFF OF THAT GIRL IMMEDIATELY!"  
  
Sirius and Ali hadn't been actually *doing* anything, but as Ali was on the floor, her arms around Sirius's neck, and Sirius was on all fours over her, it didn't look so innocent. They quickly scampered up and raced out into the living room with all of their other friends. Remus and Sierra were white with fear of what Mrs. Black might do to them -after all, they're been caught snogging at the corner of the kitchen. James and Lily stood from the couch quickly, anxiously anticipating what was about to be said. "LINE!" Mrs. Black barked. The 6 kids automatically formed a straight line in front of her. She paced back and forth like it was a military academy.  
  
"We're in for it," Sirius whispered to his sister.  
  
"Definitely," Sierra muttered back. They knew their mother well enough know that they'd be totally embarrassed in front of their friends. But they had gotten in trouble a lot together -and they had wormed themselves out of trouble before.  
  
"So.what d'you say we use excuse 13? Or.maybe 11 might work better in this situation."  
  
"Um.Sirius, I don't really think either of those will work for something like this."  
  
"Right."  
  
Mrs. Black stopped pacing and she turned to them. "I have never been so disappointed in my children and their friends. Ever. Sirius, how could you act so irresponsibly?" she cried, facing her son. Sirius looked down. "We weren't doing anything," he muttered.  
  
"Hmm. Well it didn't look like it to me," Mrs. Black spat. She turned to her daughter.  
  
"And Sierra! You've never done anything this.this.You're acting with that boy" she glared at Remus "as if you were.were-"  
  
"In love?" Sierra interjected boldly. Sierra had no problem standing up to her mother and getting herself out of trouble. What she'd have trouble doing was convincing her that Remus was trustworthy as well as Ali was. And Lily and James weren't bad at all either.  
  
"You are a child. You can't be -"  
  
"Mum, look at me. I'm not a child! "  
  
"Then stop acting childish!" her mother snapped. Sierra regained her confidence.  
  
"We're not kids anymore. We're old enough to start making our own decisions about our lives, and start getting in relationships!" "No, you're not!"  
  
"Yes we are!"  
  
"And you, James !" Mrs. Black turned to James. "I've known you since you were 10 years old and never have you behaved in such a manner. You were always smart, responsible, you haven't ever been so hooked on 'love'. Who says this girl is good enough for you?" Mrs. Black said angrily.  
  
"Hey, mum, back off, alright?" Sirius ordered, defending his friends.  
  
"You do not tell me what to do, young man!" Mrs. Black yelled.  
  
"What is your problem?" Sierra yelled back. "Why is it such a crime to be in love?"  
  
Mrs. Black stared at her two children, who both looked back at her angrily. She looked down and breathed hard. "It's not the love thing, dears," she said, calming down quite a bit "It's that I don't want anyone here to get hurt as I did." Sirius and Sierra traded looks. "And," she added louder, "I don't want anymore lovey-dovey stuff in my house. You may hug, but no kissing, it's just not appropriate. You've got only 12 days left until you're out of my sight, and then you may do whatever you like."  
  
"Ok," everyone chorused.  
  
"I am sorry I blew up at you all. I'm sorry, dear," she said sincerely to Lily. "Of course you're good enough for James, what was I thinking?"  
  
"It's alright, Mrs. Black."  
  
Mrs. Black smiled at them all and the turned away to go back to her room. The teenagers all breathed out in relief when Mrs. Black abruptly swiveled around again.  
  
"And, erm.Remus, Ali, I need to see the two of you in my office." 


	8. A Tragic Tale

*~*~*Chapter 8: Tragic Happenings*~*~*~  
  
(A/N: Maybe too much is happening to these people in just a few days, but something BIG is about to occur.)  
  
3 days later [Sunday], the 6 kids gathered at a large grassy park/lake for a picnic. Sirius and Remus were throwing a Frisbee around, shouting gleefully. Ali, Sierra and Lily were doing their nails together, huddled on a tablecloth on the long, pasture-like grass.  
  
James was walking around the lake calmly. He moved around a few trees, hiding himself from his friends' view. Out of the shadows, he heard unexpectedly, "James Potter. We meet again."  
  
James swiveled around. A girl about his height, with shoulder-length brown hair and deep blue eyes stood by a tree, smiling mysteriously.  
  
"Oh. Hey. . .uh. .. it's Victoria, right?" James asked confusedly.  
  
The girl kept her smile on her face and giggled hollowly. "Taylor, actually," she said, as if she knew he'd known her name the whole time and he was kidding.  
  
^#^#^#^  
  
Taylor was always as girl with bad intentions. Always thinking about herself . . .or in this case, James Potter. Chasing after him since the second year, only because of his good looks and popularity, Taylor never gave up. She hated Lily for ruining her chances with the boy - yet now was a time to ruin Lily. Well, ok, so she knew James was completely out of her league, but she figured: if she couldn't have James, then neither could that two faced little brat. She would have put her plan into action at school, but by coincidence, he just happened to be here, of all places! So why not do it now?  
  
^#^#^#  
  
"Jamsie-poo, let's go . . .over there. I need to talk to you about something," she said smoothly, guiding James over to a picnic table where Lily was sure to see. James frowned.  
  
"Don't touch me," he said, trying to be polite, but really annoyed. He moved his shoulder out of her grasp. "And what's with the 'Jamsie-poo' stuff?"  
  
James leaned against the table. Taylor grinned, and quickly looked up to where Lily and her little friends were. "So.what did you want to talk about?" James asked, impatient.  
  
"Actually, I wanted to do this!" Taylor pushed James onto the table and started to kiss him passionately.  
  
&@&@  
  
Lily felt weird. Like this odd vibe.  
  
"What's wrong Lily?" Ali asked, seeing her friend's sudden awareness.  
  
"Something's not right. I don't feel right."  
  
"Like how?" Sierra asked, starting to get worried.  
  
Lily shook her head. "I don't - where's James?"  
  
"Dunno," Ali muttered vaguely.  
  
All of a sudden, Lily turned her head sharply towards where James was. . .well, who knew what he was doing. Lily felt her whole world freezing before her eyes. James and that girl. . .Taylor was her name? That girl from Hogwarts, why was she here? She'd been after him for years. . .and now they were. . .?  
  
Ali and Sierra suddenly caught where Lily was staring, just when James, trying to defend himself, rolled over, making it look even more like they were making out.  
  
"OH MY GOD."  
  
Sirius caught the Frisbee just as it was thrown to him and said "What?" to his girlfriend. Ali just stared, horror-struck. Sirius turned and his mouth dropped open, and the Frisbee fell limp to his hand. Remus looked too. Oh boy. &@&@  
  
James tried to fight the freaky girl off. 'What the hell is she doing?' he thought wildly. He didn't know how she was doing it, but she had a firm grasp on him, and she just kept on kissing him, though he didn't kiss back (obviously.) 'Doesn't she need air?' he pleaded.  
  
Without warning, he felt the slutty girl being wrenched from him. 'YES! Oh...oh...SHIT'. The one who'd removed Taylor from him was. . .Lily. And she did NOT look typical girly-girl when she'd "caught her man cheating on her." She wasn't crying (yet) and yelling 'how could you!' and running away. She just looked downright pissed off. And James knew what she could do to him if he got her mad enough.  
  
"Lily, I swear, I can explain -" he began, slightly out of breath. He never finished his sentence because as soon as he started, a sharp fist came from the air, punching him in the eye. He was thrown off his feet and onto the ground.  
  
"LILY, NO!" Ali screamed. "DON'T!"  
  
"What's she gonna do?" Sirius yelled wildly.  
  
"Oh god.she's gonna beat the hell out of him before we can get an explanation!" Ali answered. "Trust me, she's not the kind of girl you'd want to make angry! Her dad taught her some *defense* tricks and they've all gone to her head!"  
  
The four remaining teenagers plus one *lady of the night* were watching in fear and shock as Lily punched James over and over again. Then she resulted to slapping the boy. Of course, she didn't want to kill him, but NO ONE messed with her. She wasn't hitting his THAT hard, but hard enough to leave a bruise. 'Well, ok, maybe a little harder', she admitted as soon as she made his lip bleed.  
  
In all honestly, Taylor thought this was all relatively funny.  
  
"She's gonna kill him! Stop her!" Sierra screamed.  
  
Sirius and Remus both yanked Lily off of James, trying to hold back the struggling girl. "LET ME GO!" she shrieked, though she was starting to cry. 'How could he? Her James.HER James.no.And I don't want and explanation. He shouldn't have.done anything.'  
  
She kicked forward, trying to hit the boys holding her back, but each had taken hold of one arm. When too many tears threatened to break forth, she gave up, finally choking up sobs and weakening herself, crumbling to the ground in a heap.  
  
Sirius and Remus let go, slightly afraid of a crying girl in misery. Ali and Sierra both rushed forward to hug their friend.  
  
James, being helped up by his friends, stared more than daggers at Taylor, who smiled innocently. He was breathing hard, but soon had tempered his breathing back to normal. He only had a bleeding lip and a forming black eye, and maybe a few bruises, but nothing major. He watched Lily crying on the ground, hugging herself for comfort.  
  
"Lily," he said, trying to speak softly. "I swear it wasn't what it looked like. Just let me explain. And don't beat the shit out of me."  
  
'Crud,' Taylor thought. 'This stupid boy is messing up my plans! I don't think so. NO ONE gets what they want after Taylor Carrisa deals with them. NO ONE!'  
  
"Yeah, well, Jamsie, I think I can tell her what's going on," Taylor spoke up quickly.  
  
James said, "NO!" firmly, but Taylor continued.  
  
"I really don't know why you're so upset, Evans. Didn't Jamsie tell you about us? I mean. . .you didn't think he'd go into the 6th year being with you, did you?" she paused for effect. "Aw, how sweet. You did."  
  
She gave Lily a sarcastic smile and said, "James, honey, I think we should go." James looked at her with complete disgust. "Get AWAY from me, Tay!"  
  
"Oh, so now you call her 'Tay'!" Lily burst out savagely.  
  
"No, Lily -"  
  
"How could you?" Lily cried, ripping herself from Ali and Sierra's grasps. "After everything -after we. . . after you. . ." she couldn't say anything between sobs . "LILY!" James howled. "GOD, LISTEN TO ME! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! THIS WAS A SET UP!! WHY ARE YOU LISTNEING TO WHAT TAYLOR SAYS? WHAT ABOUT ME!?"  
  
Lily silenced, though she was still crying. Lily realized that, once again, she'd jumped to conclusions.  
  
"God, I mean.UGH, I can't take this anymore, when will you trust me!" James yelled. He stormed off, taking a running start somewhere. Now Lily realized her mistake. The closed her eyes briefly. "Wait, James, hold it!" She called after him. She followed closely behind him, only about 5 feet behind him, trying to catch up.  
  
"This is getting good," Taylor muttered.  
  
"Lily! Don't!" Ali moaned, also following her.  
  
"Ali! No. Stay out --" Sirius said, chasing his girlfriend.  
  
James was in the lead, Lily, Ali and Sirius running after him together; Remus and Sierra trailing far behind, not wanting to get in the way.  
  
James didn't know why he was running, running, running. . .all he knew was, he had to get out of here. He ran across the grass, the gravel path and closed in on the parking lot. He could hear Lily's calls of "JAMES!" and Ali's of "LIL!" and Sirius's of "ALI!"  
  
He was near the gate when suddenly, a horrible sound alerted him. A loud and disgusting thud was followed by an earsplitting screech of breaks. James whirled around, horrified. He saw a black flashy car a few feet from him and.he noticed from the wheel, there was a mess of dark red hair, and an arm was lying motionless on top.  
  
*~*Chapter 9: Accidents Happen*~*  
  
(A/N: I know, I know, lame name for a title, right? Duh! Now go read my fic!)  
  
James stood there, transfixed for a moment, all sorts of wild and crazy thoughts popping into his head. He was breathing hard and unsteadily, as if he's been running for miles. But he wasn't tired; he was terrified of what had become of Lily, Sirius and Ali. Slowly, as if he was afraid to face even worse problems, he walked around the car. A man came out of the vehicle, freaking out and rushing to the aid of the kids he'd accidentally hit. James saw Sirius, red color all over his legs and arms, moaning in fierce pain, clutching his leg, almost crying in agony.  
  
Ali was lying on the ground, not moving, blood covering her body. Lily's arm and part of her stomach were under the wheel of the car, and she was motionless, pale as death and splashed with blood. James acted quickly. "Mister! Back your car up!!!" he shouted at the fearful man, hovering around.  
  
"OK!" the man yelled back. He reversed his car, off of Lily and James rushed to her side. "Sirius, man, hang in there, ok?" James called to his best friend. Sirius gritted his teeth.  
  
"Mister! Call 911!!!!" James called.  
  
(A/N: Now I realize that 911 may not be the emergency code in England, but I'm a clueless American, work with me here!)  
  
The man took out his cell phone and speed-dialed emergency and reported the accident. While as this was taking place, Remus and Sierra burst onto the scene.  
  
"Sirius!" Sierra cried, panicked for her brother. She ran to help him sit up.  
  
James pulled Lily onto him, trying to shake her awake.  
  
"Lily.Lily," he groaned. "Please.c'mon, wake up!" She stayed limp, in his arms. Everything was all a blur.  
  
*#*#*  
  
"L-L-Lily. E-Evans. L-Lily Evans," James said shakily.  
  
He and his friends were at the police station, explaining what had happened. The driver of the car that hit Lily, Sirius and Ali had called 911, gotten and ambulance to take them, and then called the police to report the accident. He was being questioned at the moment as well. The officer was done asking about Sirius and Ali, just Lily was left.  
  
"And of what age was the victim?" the police officer asked kindly. The police lady was a tall, respectable looking woman, blonde and green eyed.  
  
"Uh.uh." James was too shaky to answer.  
  
"She was -I mean, she IS 16," Sierra interjected. Remus squeezed James's shoulder comfortingly. "And how are you all related to her?"  
  
"We're just her friends," Remus began, and then he added, "But he's her boyfriend." He pointed to James. The officer cornered James with a stare over her glasses for a few seconds and then continued filling out the report.  
  
"And, what were you doing that she ran into the street like that?"  
  
At this, everybody looked over at James. He explained most the details, but hurrying to the more important facts. "I ran across, and then she was after me, and. . ." James closed his eyes. He wasn't going to cry. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down.  
  
"Ok. Thanks, kids. That's all I needed to know. Are you ok, sweetheart?" she added kindly to James.  
  
"Uh. Yeah. . .yeah, thanks."  
  
"She'll be alright," the police officer said reassuringly. "Can I get you guys anything?"  
  
"When can we see Lily and the others?" James said quickly. The officer smiled.  
  
"In a few moments we're all going down to the hospital. We'll all see your friends."  
  
^#^#  
  
James stood right next to Lily, holding her hand. He closed his eyes. 'If only he hadn't run across.'  
  
"If she's not ok I'll never forgive myself," James whispered.  
  
Sierra, who was also in the room, whispered back, "It'll be ok, James."  
  
"What about the others? I'll never get over that either," James said tonelessly.  
  
Sierra was quiet. "Don't worry about it," she told him after a while.  
  
"How are they going to get better in time for school? And we've got to lie and say we go to boarding school."  
  
"I'm sure they'll think of something."  
  
"How can you be so calm at a time like this?"  
  
"Sierra," Remus said, entering the room. "You can go see Sirius and Ali now, if you want."  
  
Sierra turned back at James. "Because I believe it'll be ok," she answered him. Then she left, going to see her brother and Ali.  
  
(A/N: This chapter isn't all that important either. I mean, it doesn't affect anything that's going to happen later. But I had to add this for a reason.)  
  
(A/N Note: This chapter is dedicated to my cousins in Brazil: Michelle, Marcell, and Danielle. They suffered an accident similar to this one written in my story, with one of them dying. [But I don't want my characters to die, so I'm not killing them off!] I wrote this chapter to tell everyone to please be careful with your life and to tell everyone you love that you love them -cuz it can all be over in a flash. This family thing happened recently to me, so I used it as an inspirational piece of my fic.) 


	9. Packing and junk

*~*~*Chapter 10: Packing and Junk*~*~*  
  
(A/N: OOPS! My bad!! I just realized that yesterday I accidentally posted chaps. 8 and 9 together! Sorry!!!  
  
Ok. . .thanx to the following!  
  
Quinn - thanx and Yay!* I'm the best* Ego booster! THANKS!  
  
sCHEm - here's more for ya!  
  
Kirbee - doesn't it? And it happens everyday to people, too. **Sigh**  
  
TFG - Yay and thanx. It's k, actually, this happened like, while I was @ Einstein, so I'm way over it. Actually, remember I told u that some of my cousins were here a few weeks ago? The ones from Brazil?? That's them! And Michelle and Marcell and totally fine (well. . .for the most part anyway.) But thanx!!!! Lolz.  
  
(A/N: The only reason I'm skipping a bunch and going to where they're all better is because I'm too lazy to write everything out. And I realize that in REALITY, being hit by a car, you wouldn't recover in a little over a WEEK, but hel-lo! I'm trying to make this fic work!!!! And I just had to add some excitement and sadness to this.)  
  
After a week, the day before they were all supposed to go back to school, Sirius, Ali and Lily were allowed to go home.  
  
The nurse wheeled them all out to the parking lot in wheel chairs (standard procedure) where Mrs. Black, James, Remus and Sierra were waiting.  
  
"Lily," James greeted with a huge smile. He extended his arms to her and she dove in them, burying her face in his neck with joy. When Lily smiled shyly at him and got into the car, Sirius came up, trying to enter too. "Hey, Padfoot, you doin' ok?" James asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm cool," Sirius answered, nodding his head up. The boys smiled at each other and did the Marauder handshake. Ali followed, and James wrapped her in a friendly hug. "Glad you guys are all good."  
  
"Me too," she answered. Remus and Sierra got in the car, and James followed them.  
  
*#*#*  
  
When they got home, everyone was packing for the next day. Ok, let my rephrase that -Lily, Sirius and Ali were packing for the next day and James, Remus and Sierra were helping them. It was kind of tough, since Sirius was on crutches, Ali had a leg cast (she could move, but it hurt), and Lily had a broken arm and was pretty bruised up.  
  
James picked up a few of her things and handed them to her while she accommodated them. He picked up the journal he'd gotten her and opened it up. She'd written -  
  
"What is a friend?  
  
It's a single soul dwelling in two bodies."  
  
-Aristotle  
  
~ "Find out who you are, and do it on purpose."  
  
"If I you live to be 100, then I want to live to be 100 minus 1 so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh.  
  
Ha, and this would be how I feel about James, huh, journal? And he's the one that gave you to me, too. ~Lily  
  
James grinned, he knew Lily'd find some use for this. Writing in her favorite quotes.and notes to self. He checked to see if she was looking. Nope, she was still trying to fit her makeup in with her robes. He flipped the page and read her handwriting again, this time it looked like a song:  
  
I'll always remember  
  
Late night and the stars were bright  
  
It was late afternoon  
  
It lasted forever  
  
And ended so soon  
  
You were on your own  
  
You were all by yourself  
  
Staring up at the dark gray sky  
  
I was changed  
  
In places no one would find All your feelings so deep inside (Deep inside) It was then that I remembered  
  
It was then that I realized  
  
That forever  
  
Here, she had stopped writing. James looked up again and she still wasn't done. He turned the page and read:  
  
Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous.  
  
There was a lot more, but at once, the book was yanked from his hands and Lily's face filled his view.  
  
"What do you think you're doing, Mr. Potter?" Lily inquired.  
  
"I was just reading what you wrote," James answered truthfully. "And how far did you get?"  
  
"Up to 'Love.blah, blah.is never jealous.'" He said.  
  
"Ok. Well, don't go snooping in my stuff again, please," she said, slightly annoyed. She bent down to tuck the book into her trunk. James slid his arms around her waist and hoisted her back up, plopping her on his lap.  
  
"James!" she cried.  
  
"Lily!" he mocked.  
  
"I need to finish packing," she said impatiently. James gave her a puppy face. "No time for James?"  
  
Lily giggled and sighed. "Alright, alright." She leaned in and kissed him lightly.  
  
"We're not supposed to kiss in this house," James reminded her.  
  
"Oh yeah."  
  
"Let's go and play Quidditch!" he shouted enthusiastically. Lily pointed to her arm.  
  
"Oh." James dropped his excitement.  
  
She sighed again. "Wait. I need to talk to you."  
  
"Ok, shoot."  
  
"That day. . .with Taylor? Were you -"  
  
"Lily, I already told you. She just did that to get rid of you. She's been after me for years and she'll never give up. She only did that to break us up."  
  
Lily sighed.  
  
"Why don't you believe me?"  
  
"It's not that -I do, but -"  
  
"But you don't trust me."  
  
"I DO trust you. I just. . .well, lots of stuff has happened between us that's made it kinda hard to forget. And not everything's good."  
  
"So when will I be trusted again?"  
  
"I told you. I. . .ok, so maybe I don't trust you. . .completely. But I do. I mean, I let to be with me, that must mean I trust you some," she said. "So how can I get you to trust me completely?"  
  
"By doing something worth trusting!"  
  
James sighed. "Why do I always have to DO something? Why can't I just give you my word for it!"  
  
"Because I'm very skeptical. I don't believe it until I see it." She kissed his cheek. "I need to pack now." James watched her pack, and started thinking of ways to get Lily to trust him.  
  
*^*^*  
  
(A/N: YES, I got most of the quotes and stuff from 'A Walk To Remember.' Except the Winnie and Pooh one. Lolz. See ya). 


	10. Train Talk

*~*~Chapter 11: Train Talk*~*~  
  
In the morning, Mrs. Black drove all of the teens to Platform 9 ¾, saw them onto the train, and headed off. Everyone loaded their trunks on board and found a compartment to share.  
  
"It's really crowded in here, you guys. I think I'm going to go to the next compartment over," Lily said pointedly to the girls. She jabbed her head towards the door and raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Uh, right.me too," Sierra said, catching the drift.  
  
"I'll stay here!" Ali volunteered. Lily rolled her eyes and dragged her friend over with her, and muttered, "Als, sometimes you can be a thick as Sirius is."  
  
"Hey!" Sirius shouted indignantly from his seat.  
  
Lily shut the compartment door and they all sat down. "So, what's up, Lils?" Sierra questioned.  
  
"I just wanted to discuss the guys," Lily responded.  
  
^^^^^  
  
"I bet you they're talking about us as we speak," James said through narrowed eyes. The boys were silent. Then, suddenly, there was a mad run towards the door. They all were listening carefully and quietly.  
  
"What about the guys?" Ali said.  
  
"I dunno. What do you think of them?" Lily wondered.  
  
"Well.honestly?" Sierra asked.  
  
"Honestly," Lily said back.  
  
"Well, I think that Remus is a great boyfriend and all, but sometimes it seems like he's hiding something. Like some deep dark secret he doesn't want to tell anyone. I suspected it before, and I asked Sirius about it, but he shook it off and said he didn't know what I was talking about. But other than that mysteriousness, he's awesome! And he's really cute, you must admit," Sierra concluded proudly.  
  
^^^^^^  
  
Back in the boys' compartment, Remus was blushing like crazy.  
  
"Hey," he whispered to Sirius, who was stand still on his crutches. "Thanks for not telling on me. . .you know, about -"  
  
Sirius nodded, understanding. ^^^^^  
  
"Huh. A secret? Well that's definitely odd. What about you, Als?" Lily wanted to know.  
  
"Well, Sirius is a great boyfriend, too," she began, looking over at Sierra. "I mean he's funny, sweet, caring. . .and I'm not just saying this cuz he's your brother," she added to Sierra. "He's great. I dunno, sometimes he's just too full of himself, though. I mean, he's really vain. He likes to talk to himself in the mirror while he puts his hair gel on!"  
  
Sierra giggled. "Yup, he's been doing that for a LONG time! You're lucky you didn't have to grow up with him!" Ali smiled.  
  
"But besides that, he's really, really adorable, especially when he's embarrassed, oh it's sooooo cute!" Lily grinned.  
  
^^^^^  
  
Sirius was grinning stupidly, like he was proud of himself. "Ok, so maybe I overdo it when I look in the mirror for an hour. But, hello! What would become of this beautiful face if I didn't tend to it?" James and Remus rolled their eyes. "And did'ja hear that? She said I'm adorable."  
  
^^^^^  
  
"So, Lily, what about your boy? What's his deal?" Ali demanded.  
  
Lily smiled lightly. "I love James. He's just. . .I don't really know, either. He - I'm not sure if I should trust him or not, and trust is a big issue in a relationship. And I'm not sure why I don't trust him. It's just this feeling. Like. . .I'm going to be pushed over to the side or forgotten or something. Or, since there're so many girls after him, I might get cheated on." Lily looked worried, but relived she'd said something.  
  
"Oh my gosh! I'm so glad you said that because I sometimes get that feeling too!" Ali exclaimed.  
  
"I know, ditto! Like. . .well, not the cheating part. I trust Remus and all, but sometimes I feel like they'll just leave us behind. Or forget us. Or something," Sierra chimed in.  
  
The girls were quiet. But then Lily added, "But he's the best other than that!" The other two smiled. "And," Lily added "he's an outstanding kisser."  
  
^^^^  
  
"Score!" James whisperedly cheered. (A/N: I KNOW 'whisperdly' isn't a word.I mean that he's cheering in a whisper!) "She said I was an outstanding kisser!"  
  
Sirius and Remus raised their eyebrows at him. They all grinned, and pressed their faces closer to the door.  
  
^^^^  
  
"I just had to get that all out," Lily explained.  
  
"Me too," Ali offered.  
  
"I'm so glad we've had this conversation, ladies," Sierra said happily. "Makes me feel a lot better."  
  
"Well. . .wait." Lily glanced down at the door where the crack was and she noticed 6 shoes standing there. She placed her hands on her hips and sneakily marched over towards the door. Suddenly, she jerked it open and stood aside, letting the 3 boys tumble through the compartment.  
  
"OW!" Sirius moaned.  
  
"Oops," Lily said pseudo-apologetically. She picked up his crutches and helped him up. Ali and Sierra were glaring at the boys. "Were you listening to the whole conversation?" they demanded.  
  
"No," the boys all said faultlessly.  
  
"Because that was a PRIVATE chat," Ali said venomously.  
  
"Yeah, we know," Sirius said airily. The boys trooped in the new compartment and sat next to their girlfriends. Sirius put his arm around Ali. "And I don't use hair gel," he said gently. "It's - "  
  
"And you're a fabulous kisser, too," James told Lily, grinning.  
  
"And am I really that mysterious?" Remus asked in question to Sierra.  
  
"Aha! I KNEW it! You WERE listening!" Ali said triumphantly.  
  
"Duh, why else would we have been standing by the door? You were discussing us," James whined.  
  
Lily playfully slapped his arm. "Still, you guys shouldn't have listened."  
  
"Well, we did what we did and we can't change a thing."  
  
"Well then, yes, everything we said was, DUH, true," Sierra spat.  
  
"You guys! We're here!" Lily exclaimed, noticing they were nearing the castle. 


	11. Hogwarts

*~*~*Chapter 12: Hogwarts*~*~*  
  
(A/N: This is probably going to be a shorter chapter than usual. I was going to add this one in with the last one, but the other one was getting lengthy. See ya!)  
  
The Sorting took place, the feast took place and then the 6 Gryffindors and a few of Sierra's friends headed up to their tower.  
  
"Well, I'm going to bed," Sierra said quietly.  
  
"Night guys," she called. She went over to Remus and kissed him goodnight. Her friends giggled and blushed for no apparent reason.  
  
"Night, Sier," Remus said back, not caring what the other girls thought.  
  
"I'm going up too," Lily said, yawning. "Ditto," Ali imitated, stretching.  
  
"Night, boys," Lily said softly.  
  
"G'night," Ali followed. Ali walked over to Sirius and kissed him, and then Sirius kissed her back. Lily did the same to James whispering,  
  
"We're out of the Black's house -we're allowed to kiss again."  
  
"I know, and I look forward to it," James said, beaming. She kissed him and they two ladies went into their dormitory. The boys watched their girls going up the staircase wistfully, and then they heard an eruption of "OMG! I MISSED YOU GUYS!" and "OOH, YOU'RE BACK!" And then a door slam.  
  
"Chicks," James muttered, shaking his head.  
  
The boys went into their dormitories and got in their pajamas on. They all flopped onto their beds and suddenly, two other boys entered the room: Mundungus Fletcher and Peter Pettigrew.  
  
"Oh, hey, Pete, we missed you at the station!" Remus exclaimed. Peter was a boy of no talent whatsoever, but, nevertheless, he was their friend and a good person at heart (A/N: Or so they thought.) .  
  
"I know, I was talking to Fletcher," Peter said. Mundungus never liked his first name, so he preferred them to call him by his last name.  
  
"Oh, ok."  
  
"Well, we're really tired, we're gonna cash in," Fletcher said sleepily.  
  
"Yeah," Peter agreed. Both boys changed, crawled into their beds and shut the hangings around them.  
  
"So, guys," Sirius whispered. "I have a question, and I've been thinking about it for a while."  
  
"You've been thinking?" James mock gasped.  
  
"Wow, Padfoot, did it hurt?" Remus said, pseudo-seriously.  
  
"Shut up, I'm serious."  
  
"We already knew that," James quipped.  
  
"It's been your name for a few years now, hasn't it? Or did you forget again?" Remus added. Sirius frowned.  
  
"Ok, ok, shoot, dude," James said, sensing his friend's solemness.  
  
"Do you think we've changed since we got girlfriends?" Sirius asked anxiously.  
  
Remus and James traded glances. "Dunno," they both answered.  
  
The young men were all hushed for a few moments, and then Sirius said quietly, "Let's swear that we'll never let a girl change us. I mean, you know what I mean. Remember when James first liked Lily and we reminded him of our ex'gf's?" Sirius said, pointedly to Remus. "And then we remembered -pranks failing, girls no longer targets.etc.? Well, let's just promise this, ok? We'll never let any girl come in between our friendship."  
  
"Yeah, man. Marauders forever," James added, sticking a fist in the middle.  
  
"Marauders forever," Remus repeated, piling his fist onto James's.  
  
"Marauders for life," Sirius said, crashing the three fists together.  
  
*%*$*$* 


	12. Forgotten

(A/N: THANKS to:  
  
siri's girl -ok, I'll email you now!  
  
Tess -Thanks and s'ok!  
  
Quinn -All right, I've uploaded **soon**  
  
Princess Potter -Thanks!!!!!!  
  
TFG - NOOOOOO ALS YOU CAN'T GO CAMPING W/O ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! E me and tell me all bout it!  
  
Kirbee - I agree. . .Marauders for life really worked though. . .in the 3rd book, Remus and Sirius still aRE Marauders. . .lolz.  
  
Lex mecginity - so I loved the movie. . .and I memorized that poem thing!  
  
Once again, THANKS!)  
  
  
  
"WAKE UP!" Lily hollered.  
  
She pranced around the 6th year boys' dormitories, opening curtains and letting the sun pour in. Ali magically yanked off the covers of all the boys and blushed.  
  
"Aw, Ali, we really didn't need to see that!" Sierra said, giggling. It seemed to be a habit that the guys simply slept with nothing but boxers now that the summer was over and they weren't at home. The male teens (A/N: I need another word for BOYS!) slowly woke up, realizing that there were 3 girls waltzing around their room, trying to get them up. Lily slid over to James's bed and she crawled on top, kissing him awake. James yawned and stretched his bare arms over her shoulders, hugging her.  
  
"Morning," he greeted sleepily.  
  
Ali lay next to Sirius, draping her arms over his shoulders. "Ali," Sirius acknowledged, yawning.  
  
Remus sat up in bed. "Don't I get anything?" he whined.  
  
"Sure ya do," Sierra said, walking over to him and giving him a long kiss, in which he kissed back.  
  
"Ugh, you guys, get a room," Sirius moaned, watching his sister and friend in disgust. Remus, still kissing Sierra, reached over to his drapes and pulled them shut. Sirius rolled his eyes and breathed hard through his nose. (A/N: Now we know that Mrs. Black does this when she's frustrated as well. . .)  
  
"Chill, Padfoot, you know Moony wouldn't go that far," James said, consolingly.  
  
Fletcher awoke finally.  
  
"You guys," he complained "keep your girls out of here in the mornings, please!" Suddenly, his girlfriend, Bella, rushed in and swooped down on him.  
  
"UP!" she ordered. "C'mon! Everyone's already at breakfast!"  
  
Peter rubbed his eyes warily. "You guys didn't tell me these were your girlfriends," he said calmly to his fellow Marauders.  
  
"Well, they are," Sirius said. Sierra pulled the hangings back from Remus's bed and jumped out.  
  
"Well boys, time's a wastin.' Let's GO!" she yanked Remus's hand so he stood out of bed.  
  
"What, like this?" he said, indicating his wardrobe.  
  
"I don't mind!" James called from his four-poster.  
  
"Neither do I," Sirius offered.  
  
"The other chicas will just give us longer stares than usual.I mean, being the popular, handsome, funny, sweet, and sensitive guys that we are." James said, laughing. The girls gave them hard looks.  
  
"Ok, ok, we're just kidding," James muttered. ^^^^^  
  
"So, boys," Ali said casually tot hem at the breakfast table. "First Hogsmeade weekend this week. What d'ya say?"  
  
"Yeah!" Lily gushed.  
  
"I'm all over it," Sierra added.  
  
The boys glanced at each other. "Er, we kinda planned a Marauder meeting then," Remus told them.  
  
"Marauder meeting?"  
  
"Yeah, well, we had them all last year and it's been working. We get together twice a month and decide what new pranks we need, who to pull them on. . .it's very effective planning," Sirius said.  
  
"And it's going to take ALL your time?"  
  
"Well.most of that day, yeah."  
  
"We're not going to be any targets, are we?" Lily wanted to know.  
  
"Well, you're just like anyone else. Who knows," James said mysteriously. "You might be next."  
  
"Ok.so then maybe we could do stuff today -" Sierra pointed out, but Sirius cut her off.  
  
"Sorry Sis, but we've got Quidditch training. . .first practice of the season."  
  
"Oh." Remus, Sirius and James were all on the Gryffindor team: James as a chaser, Sirius and Remus as beaters.  
  
"Well, class is in 10! We've got to go!" Remus exclaimed, and the boys scurried away.  
  
"You know, I hate to say it, but I get the feeling we're not exactly wanted this week," Ali said. "Ditto. What about you Lily? Lily?" Sierra asked, checking out her bemused friend.  
  
"I knew it," was all Lily muttered. ^$^$^$^$^ weekend  
  
"So, we doin' all right this week?" Remus said.  
  
"Yup," Peter answered. "We've got enough in the Marauder finances to buy a few new pranks even," he said, since he budgeted the money.  
  
(A/N: I know the Marauders aren't a business, but they have money they all throw in the get pranks.so we need a treasurer...)  
  
"Great. People are still at Hogsmeade for today, we can go without sneaking in there!" Sirius put in enthusiastically.  
  
Remus looked uncomfortable. "But we told the girls we couldn't go with them cuz this would take all our time. They'll be mad if they see us down there."  
  
Sirius snapped his fingers. "Good point."  
  
"So we'll take the Invisibility Cloak," James offered.  
  
"Ok.but Lily knows you've got a Cloak, doesn't she?"  
  
"So?"  
  
"I dunno." ^%^%^%  
  
"Ooh, very latest prank to pull!" Peter muttered. "Someone get out of the cloak and get it.pay it. Get two of them and we can spend all the money."  
  
"Ok, I'll do it," Sirius whispered. He stepped out of the cloak and reached his hand towards it, when he heard James hiss, "Padfoot! Get under the cloak!!"  
  
Sirius glanced around and noticed Lily, Ali and Sierra coming into the store. "Oh, crap," he muttered. "Where are you guys?"  
  
James pulled his friend under and they all stood still. "The store's pretty empty, we can move around," Remus said.  
  
Lily walked over to just about where they were and started examining the prank that the boys had tried to get. "Hey, this is new!"  
  
"So, what, Lils?" Sierra said, coming over. "I want to go to the robe shop."  
  
"So let's get one each for the guys. They're not here this weekend. They could use a new prank to pull."  
  
Now Ali walked over. The boys were slowly inching towards the door, but were staying close enough to hear what they were saying. "Yes get one for the guys.get one for the guys," Sirius was muttering happily until Remus stepped on his foot.  
  
"Shhhh!"  
  
"Well.I dunno if they deserve it," Ali said coldly.  
  
Sirius's mouth dropped open underneath the cloak. "What does she mean? 'Course we deserve it!"  
  
"Shh!"  
  
"Ali's right, Lil. You get one for James if you want, but I'm not buying them anything," Sierra said sadly.  
  
Now Remus stood in disbelief. "What is going on?"  
  
"Shhhh," Sirius mocked.  
  
Lily looked down and put it back on the shelf. "Yeah, you're right. We shouldn't get them anything."  
  
"Yeah, I don't exactly like to be ignored by my own boyfriend," Ali said, anger in her voice.  
  
"They haven't been hanging with us all week and they're avoiding us on purpose," Sierra said.  
  
"Boy bonding can go tight sometimes, they just forget about. . . .us girls," Lily agreed.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
The girls walked sadly from the shop, lost in their own thoughts. James pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of them and they all watched the girls outside in disbelief.  
  
"We're not ignoring them!" James said indignantly after they were out of sight. "Are we?"  
  
Sirius and Remus glanced at each other.  
  
(A/N: And I seem to have forgotten about Peter. . .**sigh** . . .oh well. . .heehe, not like I like him NEwayz)  
  
"Well. . .ok, so we haven't exactly been there for them for a while. But it's just a week. We've had practice, homework, meetings and a lot of other stuff going on. We're at school, what do they expect from us?" Remus said questioningly.  
  
"Right. Let's get the thing and go," Sirius said quietly. 


	13. Forgiven?

Chap 13  
  
The boys got back late, after it was dark, and most people were already upstairs in their dormitories, examining the purchases they'd made at Hogsmeade. When the boys entered their common room, they were surpirsed to find that the girls were already there. They didn't even look up from where they were sitting. Lily asked, with a hint of chilliness in her voice, "I thought you guys were having a meeting in your dorm."  
  
The boys exchanged nervous looks. "Well.we just went to go get some food from the kitchens, that's all, I swear!" Sirius lied, trying to hide the Zonko bag behind his back. Ali walked over to him.  
  
"Don't swear about things that aren't true, Sirius Black," she hissed, prying at the bag in his hand. "We know you were in Hogsmeade!"  
  
Sierra now came over. "Why didn't you guys tell us? I mean.you haven't been with us all week, and we feel kind of leftout," she said honestly. Remus put an arm around her. "We know we haven't been around. But we've been really busy -you know that. And we're sorry you guys feel un- included."  
  
Sierra looked skeptically, but he gave her a puppy pouting face and she grinned.  
  
"Ok, ok, we forgive you." Lily still didn't come over. She was writing something down in her journal and she wasn't looking up.  
  
"Ali," Sirius said.  
  
Ali turned around and didn't face him, crossing her arms across her chest. Sirius followed her so she couldn't not face him.  
  
"Ali," he repeated, with a hint of pleading in his voice. "Please, I'm sorry. We're sorry. We just needed some guy time, can't you understand?" Ali sighed and looked at him. He just stood there looking incredibly adorable. She threw her hands up in the air.  
  
"God! Why d'you have to be so darn cute?" she yelped. "Yeah, yeah, you're forgiven. But next time, just tell us you need a little away-from- girl time, ok?"  
  
"Yeah, sure," Sirius said, grinning. James walked over to Lily. "D'you forgive me?" he asked gently. Lily closed her book and stared at him sadly and with difficulty she said in a whisper "No." Then she got up and ran up to her dormitory.  
  
James was looking bewildered. "What? All I did was go to Hogsmeade and not tell her. That's all. It's not a reason to be mad at me for."  
  
Ali sighed and whispered something to Sierra, who showed comprehension.  
  
"Oh," Sierra whispered.  
  
Ali turned to the guys. "Um, we're going up to bed. Night." Then they swiveled around and walked up the path Lily walked.  
  
"Did I miss something here?" Remus asked.  
  
(A/N: dear, dear, I seem to have forgotten Peter again. oh, whoops, my bad.)  
  
"I missed what you missed," Sirius said, scratching his head.  
  
"Why are girls so complicated?" James muttered.  
  
"They speak a different language," Sirius said knowledgeably. "It's called Womaneese."  
  
"And you'd know this.how?" James joked weakly.  
  
"You'd be surprised," Sirius said mockingly.  
  
"I bet I would be. I'm goin' up, guys," James said disperitatly.  
  
*^*^*^  
  
"I knew they'd forget us. I knew it. I told you, remember?" Lily said, burying her face in her pillow.  
  
Ali and Sierra exchanged glances. "Lil, they were just busy this week, that's all. You heard 'em. They just wanted guy time. It's a reasonable explanation."  
  
Lily sighed. "It's reasonable, but is it the truth?"  
  
"Lily Evans, what other truth would be there?" Sierra demanded.  
  
"Ok, ok.I suppose you're right. Thanks girls," Lily said, lifting her up and hugging her friends.  
  
"Hooray, hooray, now can we tone it down a little, I'm trying to sleep here," Ashlee Parriss grumbled.  
  
"Yeah, hello, some of us may benefit from a little beauty sleep," Bree Gasoploes said sleepily.  
  
"Sorry," Lily whispered back.  
  
"Ok, well, I'm gone!" Sierra said, flashing a huge smile.  
  
"See you." And she left the room.  
  
"Night, Lils," Ali said kindly, yawning and flopping onto her bed.  
  
"Night, Ali."  
  
**20 minutes later.**  
  
Lily finished brushing her teeth, changing into pajamas and slippers, and cleaning up. She was about to lie in bed when the thought struck her that she wasn't all that sleepy. She grinned to herself and ducked under her bed, pulling out her guitar, which she always brought everywhere with her. She walked silently down to the vacant common room and unpacked her instrument. She pulled out her diary and wrote a few things down, closed it and set it in the case, and drummed a few chords on the guitar. She sang quietly to her music, not realizing that someone else was watching her.  
  
&^&^&^  
  
James tilted his head under his Invisibility Cloak in wonder as Lily hummed in her beautiful voice a few lyrics she'd invented. She sang softly:  
  
"This is the place where I sit,  
  
This is the part where I love you too much.  
  
This is as hard as it gets,  
  
Cuz I'm getting tired of pretending I'm tough.  
  
I'm here if you want me,  
  
I'm yours you can hold me,  
  
Empty and vacant and tumblin' and breakin'.  
  
Cuz you don't see me,  
  
And you don't need me,  
  
And you don't love me,  
  
The way I wish you would.  
  
The way I know you could."  
  
Here she paused, pouring over her journal, deciding what to write next.  
  
"I think of.no that won't work.uhhh.I dream a world.hmm.of understanding.hey! 'I dream a world of you understanding.' There we go." Lily was muttering to herself and scribbling down stuff. After a few minutes, she set the book down and she sang again.  
  
"I dream a world,  
  
Of you understanding.  
  
Yet I dream a million sleepless nights  
  
I dream up fire when you're touchin' my hand,  
  
But it twists into smoke when I turn on the lights.  
  
Umm.  
  
I'm speechless and faded;  
  
It's too complicated  
  
Is this how the book ends,  
  
Nothin' but good friends? Cuz.and then to the chorus." Lily instructed herself. "That'll work."  
  
James was inching closer to the guitar case, he wanted to read what was in that journal! One more move and -BOOM! The guitar case went crashing to the floor, leaving Lily to stare at open empty air in surprise.  
  
"What the -"  
  
She narrowed her eyes and stuck her hand forward and it bumped into something very solid.  
  
"James Potter!" she snapped, pulling of the cloak. James stood there, frozen, with a very cute look on his face. 'Aww, he's so cute when he gets caught doing something', Lily sympathized. She smiled.  
  
"And what, may I ask, were you doing?"  
  
"Er.I was.well, I was trying to.uhhh."  
  
"Trying to read my diary."  
  
"Well -"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"Ok, ok, so I was!" James admitted. He squeezed in next to her. "The song was really good," he complimented truthfully.  
  
"Thanks," Lily said. "I was writing it a while ago.before we were together -" they both smiled at that "and I never finished it. So I thought I should." Then she added pointedly "I work on it whenever I'm mad at you." James shifted guiltily in his seat.  
  
"I'm sorry, Lil," he said softly. Lily hugged him. "Yeah, I know you are. And, I suppose, I forgive you. But I'm still a little mad," she said. "I know this whole thing's not that big of a deal, but I can't help the way I feel. Don't worry, I'll get over it."  
  
"Well, at least you're honest," James said casually, hugging her back.  
  
Lily strummed a few more chords and sang to him, " And I wanna believe you:  
  
When you tell me that it'll be ok.  
  
Yeah, I try to believe you.but I don't.  
  
When you say that it's gonna be  
  
It always turns out to be a diff'rent way  
  
Yeah I try to believe you.not today,  
  
Today, today, today, today.  
  
Tomorrow's it may change."  
  
James still looked down. "James, lighten up. I just said it cuz the song matches the situation," Lily explained, thinking 'Aww, how sweet, he thinks he's in trouble!'  
  
James smiled weakly. Lily pushed her guitar into its case, locked it up and pulled James over to a couch  
  
"Sit," she ordered him, and he did so.  
  
"Why?" he asked, comforting himself on the velvet sofa.  
  
"I need a pillow," she said simply. She settled herself on his lap, rested her head on his chest, feeling it rise and fall gently, and they both fell asleep.  
  
(A/N: Ok, I have to credit the singers and stuff. The first song, "You Don't See Me," was by Josie and the Pussycats. Second song, "Tomorrow," is by Avril Levinge.) 


	14. Snow and Christmas *******

~*~*Chapter 13: Christmas and Snow*~*~ (A/N: Nothing important happens in this chapter, this is just a sweet part.)  
  
The sounds of cheers and whoops were what awoke Lily. She woke with a start, jumping slightly and waking James up also.  
  
"Yeah, and you teased me about sleeping with Sirius!" Ali called to her friend.  
  
"You did 'what' with him??" a few of Sierra's 5th year friends that were listening called.  
  
"I meant sleeping on. . .I mean by Sirius!" Ali recovered quickly. "By him!"  
  
"Yeah, sure, ya did Als," James said, smiling sleepily.  
  
"And once again, Mr. and Mrs. Potter have won for cutest couple in the common room. . .besides the other two contestants," Sierra quipped.  
  
"You two made up, have you?" Sirius said gleefully.  
  
"I hope so," James said.  
  
"Good," Remus said. "Let's go to breakfast then."  
  
*%&^*  
  
After breakfast, the boys left to go to Divination, Ali and Lily went to Transfiguration, and Sierra went to Advanced DADA.  
  
. . . During Divination. . .  
  
"Ugh, this lot's as boring as hell," Sirius commented, yawning.  
  
"Uh. . .I think hell's more thrilling," James said sleepily.  
  
"What a way to start the morning, huh?" Remus agreed. "Falling right asleep again."  
  
"Gaze into the tea cups dears. . . and describe the depictions of what you discover. . ." Professor Trewlawney said mistily. (A/N: I'm assuming she was alive in these times, too, all right?)  
  
James yawned. "Why are we repeating this if we've done it in 3rd year?"  
  
"'Tis a review, dear."  
  
"Right," James said in a defeated sort of way. He squinted his eyes and tried to see what the mushed up tea leaves read. "Er. . .is that a dog? Looks more like a. . .like a. . .a circle. . .with eyes, a tail and a snout. . .a pig?"  
  
"The pig is a sure sign of difficulty in a relationship. . .Surely you are noticing the troubles Lily Evans is having with you?" Trewlawney said lightly. The class giggled and sniggered, but James didn't seem to find it that funny.  
  
"Alas, are you aware that a sword is revolving in your cup?" the professor noted to Sirius. "The sword. . .a sure sign of an argument with a close friend. . .perhaps more than just a close friend." Sirius frowned.  
  
"And, dear," she pointed out to Remus, "your tea leaves indicate that a goat is onto of a patch of flowers, do you not see? This clearly means that misfortune will occur in your daily love, honor and esteem values. My, you three better look out for yourselves. . .your love lives don't stand a chance when the moon and Venus are moving so quickly together," she said sniffily. Just then the bell rang and James, Sirius and Remus left, less than amused.  
  
(A/N: WAIT! One quick note-I'm kinda into this whole divination thing, so I have a book that tells me what stuff means.so yeah, I wasn't making that up, just for you to know.it's factual divination!)  
  
"That old bat," Sirius grumbled after leaving for their next class. "What does she know about our love lives?"  
  
"She's a Seer, remember?" James muttered back. "And she's jinxing Lily and me. How rude."  
  
"You guys didn't actually believe that stuff, did'ja?" Remus said confidentially.  
  
"'Course not. She just didn't have to say it in front of everyone."  
  
"Yeah. . .guess so. . ." ^$^$^$  
  
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and pretty soon, December was taking over and chilliness came over the castle. Snow started sprinkling the ground gently, as the high winds brushed plants and dirt around.  
  
The teenagers were inside, working on some homework. Lily sighed and lay her quill down. "Done! Thank god. . .last homework essay before Christmas break!"  
  
"Wait! I've still got a few inches of writing left," moaned Sierra, over the top of her Transfiguration essay.  
  
"At least you're doing Transfiguration. . .we're stuck with a History of Magic thing.two rolls of parchment, plus a bibliography!" Ali said in disgust.  
  
Sierra wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. . .And Binns strikes again."  
  
"So," Lily said, clapping her hands together "Where're the guys?"  
  
"Uh . ..I think Sirius said something about a chess tournament . . .but I could be wrong!" Ali called, since Lily was already leaving through the portrait hole.  
  
*$*$*  
  
"Hey," Lily greeted James cheerily, standing behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek.  
  
"Hey yourself," James said, flashing her a sparkling smile.  
  
"Soooo, what'cha doin'?" she said playfully, messing up James's hair, watching Sirius and Remus battling at chess.  
  
"I'm waiting for these guys to finish a game, so I can play," James answered patiently.  
  
Lily pouted. "It's snowing. Come outside with me. Pweaseeee???"  
  
James glanced at her over his shoulder and smiled. "Fine, let me just get a coat or something, though."  
  
&^&^&  
  
"WHEEE!!!" Lily screamed, jumping into a huge pile of snow. White fluff covered her eyelashes and nose, her cheeks rose colored with the cold. Her dark cherry hair was hidden beneath a blanket of winter powder.  
  
"James! C'mon!" Lily called as she dove into another pile of snow. James stood with an uncertain smile on his face. He said doubtfully, "Uh, that's ok, Lils." He looked around. "Lils?" He called into the emptiness. Lily was no where to be see. "Lil? Lily. . .where'd you go. . .?"  
  
Suddenly, he was knocked down, face first into the snow by someone jumping onto his back.  
  
"WHEEE!!!" she yelped, riding on her boyfriend as he cascaded to the ground.  
  
"Lily!" he yelled, trying to be angry. But he couldn't help it, he just had to crack a smile.  
  
"See, I told you you'd have fun."  
  
"You did?"  
  
"Well. . .I thought it."  
  
James forced a laugh. "Uh. . .Lily? Can you get off, please?" he asked, still under the redhead.  
  
"Oh, yeah," Lily said, rolling off him and into the snow next to him. She stood up to face him.  
  
"Catch me if you can, James!" she cried, running as fast as she could away from him. James rolled his eyes and laughed.  
  
"Yeah, I remember this game," he said, chasing her.  
  
They had played this multiple times before, before they were together, when they were younger and just playfully flirting.  
  
James caught up behind her and tackled her to the ground. She landed face first and then she rolled over, laughing and gasping for breath under James, who was propped up on one arm over her. Slowly her laughs subsided and she leaned in towards James. James pulled her face close to his, kissing her lightly. She kissed back more with more intensity, and so on. They finally broke apart and stared each other down. They laughed. "Remember that?" Lily asked softly.  
  
"What? The kissing or the game?"  
  
"The game, you prat," Lily said, slapping his arm jokingly.  
  
"Yup. . .good times, huh?"  
  
Lily looked away from him, even if he was still hovering over her. "Very good times," she agreed. She was speaking in a soft meaningful voice, like she was saying exactly what she was thinking.  
  
"Sometimes I wish we could still have the old days. When we were only friends and we could tell each other anything. we'd sit around all day and talk forever -about how Hogwarts would be, writing songs, doing anything really - and we were best friends. We saw each other everyday. . .played tag and Quidditch games. Nothing could ever come between us." She paused here and looked longingly out to the horizon, as if remembering her childhood clearly. She smiled slightly.  
  
"But then I wonder. . . . What would it be like? If you hadn't lied about us" James looked guiltily at her "and Sirius hadn't found out, we wouldn't be together this very day. We wouldn't have. . .love." Lily glanced at James, who was listening carefully. The sun was dying away, melting the sky into dozens of splashes of light. The air was picking up gently. Wind brushed peacefully across Lily's face, bringing a few strands of hair across her lips and cheeks. She drew in a shuddering breath.  
  
"It's like the wind . . . .I can't see it.but I can feel it," Lily said, still speaking in a soft wistful sort of way. James finally spoke.  
  
"What d'you feel?" he asked lightly.  
  
Lily thought for a few seconds, closing her eyes and feeling the wind. "I feel wonder.love.beauty.joy. Strength.courage.and passion . . .. I mean, it's the center of everything."  
  
James was transfixed by her words. "I love you," he said after a while.  
  
Lily closed her eyes. "I love you too.you know that, right?"  
  
"Yeah.yeah, I do."  
  
"And now our love'll be carried into the air to someone far away." Lily said, giggling slightly.  
  
"No wonder you rock at writing songs!"  
  
Lily grinned shyly. "Thanks."  
  
"It's getting cold, Lily.let's go in?"  
  
"Yeah, ok."  
  
(A/N: YES! OK OK, I stole that whole thing from A Walk To Rememeber! So sue me! ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! You know what? I think I'm going to go upstairs to watch it.) 


	15. Gossipe Goes Far

~*~*~ Chapter 14: Gossip Goes Far ~*~*~  
  
(A/N: Ok, so basically, a few of these chapters are just *fluff* and pointless, or so them seem. There's not much in this chap. Of importance, but just one tiny detail is sort of essential. . .Thanks for all of my reviewers!)  
  
Sirius and Remus walked in the common room to find Sierra and Ali still doing their work. "Don't you guys ever procrastinate?" Sirius asked incredulously.  
  
"NO way!" Sierra said, sounding anxious.  
  
"Are you crazy?" Ali answered. "We've got to be on top of our grades, we've got low marks, hellooo!"  
  
"You say that an A-" (A/N: I'm assuming that they grade with letters) "is bad? We've got D's!"  
  
"Uh, speak for yourself. I've got a C+" Remus said proudly.  
  
Ali and Sierra snorted. "You guys never hand in work!"  
  
"Duh, what's the point? We've got things to see, people to do -"  
  
"What people?" Ali interrupted sharply.  
  
"Sirius," Remus recovered quickly "I think you meant people to see, things to do. . ."  
  
"Did I?" Sirius asked mildly confused.  
  
Everyone slapped their hands to their foreheads. "Why do we even bother?" Sierra muttered, returning to her work.  
  
"Because he's so dang cute?" Ali said.  
  
"I thought we've established that," Remus pointed out.  
  
"And he's not that cute. You should see his baby pictures!" Sierra said, laughing.  
  
"So.where're James and Lily?" Sirius asked, taking the subject off his baby pictures.  
  
"Dunno," Ali said in an off-hand way. "Last I checked she went looking for James - "  
  
"And he was with us, she came and took him somewhere, and they haven't been back since." Everyone smiled slightly, having an idea of what their friends might be doing.  
  
"Astronomy tower," they all said together.  
  
"Wrong," James said behind them, having just entered. "We were outside."  
  
"In the snow, too!" Lily added, her cheeks and nose flushed from the cold.  
  
Sierra slammed her book shut. "I'M DONE!" she proclaimed happily.  
  
"Me too!" Ali exclaimed. She glanced at her watch. "And, crap, just as we're done, we should get to bed." Sierra groaned. "Why so early?" Sirius questioned.  
  
"It's not early!" Ali protested. "It's like, 10 o'clock!"  
  
"Not comprehending."  
  
"If we stay up late, our grades suffer. If we let our grades suffer, we're never going to get a proper job to raise a family and - " Ali was cut short by Sirius, who kissed her.  
  
"Ok, we get it!" he said.  
  
"You never tell a girl to just simply 'shut up' do you?" Ali marveled.  
  
"Nope," Sirius grinned "the ol' Black charm always keeps 'em quiet longer."  
  
Ali punched his arm lightly and said "Good night, everybody."  
  
Sierra stood as well, kissing Remus and bidding the rest good night. "Lil, you comin' up?"  
  
"Uh, not yet. I'm gonna stick around a bit," Lily confessed.  
  
"Ok, night then," Sierra said.  
  
"Night."  
  
"Well, we're going up, too," Sirius said, glancing over at his comrades.  
  
"Night."  
  
"See ya."  
  
"Love ya, Lils," James whispered, as his friends walked up the staircase.  
  
"Ditto," she whispered back. She smiled and kissed him softly and sweetly, and then watched him climb the spiral stairs.  
  
Ali appeared at the stairwell again, and said quietly, "Lil. Thought you might need this," she beamed as she used a levitation charm to transport Lily's guitar to Lily's arms.  
  
"Thanks, Ali."  
  
"See ya."  
  
"Later."  
  
Lily sat on the deep red couch and strummed the guitar lightly. She was humming and writing a new song. Moments later, 4 girls walked into the common room, all giggling quietly and whispering in gossip. Lily pretended not to notice them, until they all crowded around her. She looked up in astonishment.  
  
"Yeah?" she said politely.  
  
What seemed to be the leader of the group looked meaningfully at her friends and then at Lily. "Hi. Um, so what'cha doin' there?" she asked briskly.  
  
"Uh," Lily looked down at her instrument and then back up, answering, "I'm writing a song for. . ." she stopped herself. "I'm writing a song."  
  
"For James?" the girl guessed correctly. Obviously, everyone already knew about Lily and James -they were an item now -since all the Gryffindors heard James and Lily sing together.  
  
"Um, yeah," Lily said sensitively. The girl looked at her friends again.  
  
"Well, we were just talking to some people and we heard that Taylor Carrisa's got a thing for James. . ." she paused for dramatic effects. "And we all know she always gets her way. You know how she is. We just wanted to wish you the best of luck." The girls all smiled and scuttled away, still whispering and giggling.  
  
Lily just sat there. 'What the heck? Who cared if Taylor liked James? Obviously, I remember vividly what had occurred in the summer. Oh well, whatever.' *&*&* "Prongs, you're awfully quiet. Something wrong?" Remus asked concernedly.  
  
"No, I'm fine. I was just thinking about what Lily said," James said truthfully.  
  
"What'd she say? Or even better, what'd she do?" Sirius said jauntily.  
  
"She didn't do anything," James said, annoyed. "She. we were talking about before we were together and.the wind."  
  
"The wind?" Sirius shot a side-glance at Remus.  
  
"The wind. It's like love. You can't see it, but you can feel it."  
  
***Silence***  
  
"Uhhh.James? Dude, anything exciting happen?" Sirius asked. "No. I mean, we kissed and all, but nothing out of the ordinary. She talks like.I mean, just by listening to her words you can tell she's a good songwriter. She talks like she's so much older than 16."  
  
Remus's eyebrows shot up. "Ok.James.come back to Marauder land!"  
  
James frowned at them.  
  
"I knew it. The girl changed you in less than an hour, didn't she?"  
  
"No. No one changed me. I'm still the same," James protested.  
  
"Since when has 'Prongs' started talking about 'the wind' and 'love,' huh?" Sirius challenged  
  
"You guys, drop it," James insisted angrily. He shut is hangings and bid them goodnight.  
  
*~*~*  
  
A few hours later, James, feeling restless in his bed, climbed out and wrapped the Invisibility Cloak around himself. He silently slipped out of his dorm and sat on the stairs, watching as his girlfriend pondered, once again, over a sheet of parchment from her journal. She was frowning and muttering to herself, then shaking her head and scratching on the parchment with her quill.  
  
James could hear her muttering, "Is this enough, to love. . .ok, this is cool . . . no, wait, 'Is it enough to love' sounds better." She scribbled some more and then situated herself in a position so she could play.  
  
"Is it enough to love? Is it enough to breathe? Somebody rip my heart out, and leave me here to bleed. Is it enough to die? Somebody save my life. I'd rather be anything but ordinary, please."  
  
She smiled to herself, pleased. "Ok, that's about right. . . moving on now."  
  
James grinned at how content this girl looked when playing her guitar. It was like, her place. As soon as she had parchment, a quill and her guitar, she could do anything. 'Did I just think that?' James thought. 'Whoa. That's like, the deepest I've gotten. Wait, no it isn't. I'm one of the top of my class, remember? Wait, am I arguing with myself? UGH.'  
  
Lily flipped through her journal and stopped at a page and gazed at it for a long time. She was about to flip to another page, but she paused and went back again. She smiled. She played a fast few notes on her guitar and sang very quietly:  
  
"Please tell me what is taking place  
  
Cause I can't seem to find a trace  
  
Guess it must've got erased somehow.  
  
Probably cuz I always forget  
  
Everytime someone tells me their name -  
  
It's always gotta be the same  
  
(In my world).  
  
Never wore cover up  
  
Always beat the boys up  
  
Grew up in a 5000 population town. . .  
  
Made my money cutting grass  
  
Got "fired" by a FRIED chicken ass  
  
All in a small town. . . Napanee."  
  
Lily stopped and grinned. She suddenly glanced upwards, her sharp green eyes penetrating right where James sat. A tiny smile flickered on her lips.  
  
She said, "Remember that song, Potter?"  
  
James was slightly shocked.  
  
"C'mon James, I know you're there. I can see your shoe. The Cloak isn't fully over you, Smart One."  
  
As James pulled the cloak off of him, he grinned sheepishly. "So I couldn't resist hearing your voice again, so what?" he said innocently.  
  
"Don't try to butter me up, Mr. Potter," Lily said pseudo-sternly.  
  
"Yeah, I remember writing that. . .I didn't want to but I did come up with some good lines."  
  
They giggled. "Hey, I heard from. . .some chick that Tay's after you again," Lily filled James in.  
  
James groaned. "Not again. That bit- "  
  
"Don't sink to her level James."  
  
"Yeah, well, don't worry. She won't take me."  
  
"Hope not."  
  
**silence** After a few seconds of Lily staring hard at him, he sighed and said "All right, all right, I'll go and leave you with your precious guitar. . ."  
  
Lily smiled. "Good choice," she muttered.  
  
(A/N: SONG TRIBUTES: "In my World," and "Anything But Ordinary," both by Avril Lavigne. *Can you tell I'm a big Avril fan?* Hehehee.I know that some of my chapters and completely pointless. . .and this is getting so big that I may have to write this sequel in two separate fics. . .but I like what I've written and I don't want to delete anything. Not yet.) 


	16. Christmas breaks and heart breaks (My ch...

~*Chapter 15: Christmas break and heart brakes. . .*~  
  
It was the morning before everyone was to leave for Christmas. James, Sirius and Sierra were staying, but Lily, Ali and Remus were leaving.  
  
"Parting is such sweet sorrow," Lily said dramatically, **fainting** into James's arms, one hand draped over her forehead. She grinned.  
  
"I'll see you in one week!" James exclaimed.  
  
"I know. . .hey, I wanted to give you your Christmas present before I left," Lily said softly. She withdrew a package of pranks from Zonko's from her trunk. "Here. Not the most original thing I know, but you get something REALLY special for your birthday. . .which is way later. Christmas is just for recognition," Lily explained.  
  
"Thanks, Lil," James said, sweeping her into his arms. He let her go and handed her a small box. He opened it and inside was a ring. Lily gasped, wide-eyed.  
  
"Don't freak, I'm not proposing or anything," James said, laughing at the look on her face.  
  
Lily looked relived, but at the same time, sort of disappointed.  
  
"It's. . .sort of like a promise ring. I just promise to be a good boyfriend and all," James clarified.  
  
"Oh, cool," Lily said, slipping the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly.  
  
The train whistled. "See ya," James whispered in her ear. "Happy Christmas."  
  
"Happy Christmas, James," Lily murmured back. She mounted the train. James quickly hugged Ali good-bye and gave the Marauder shake to Remus. "See ya!" Sirius, Sierra and James called.  
  
"Bye!"  
  
*%*%(  
  
On Christmas morning, James awoke with a kiss on his lips. "What?" he muttered groggily.  
  
Lily's green eyes and fiery hair loomed before him. "Lily!" he yelped. "What are you doing here?" He immediately sat up in bed.  
  
"Surprise, silly! This is my 'real' present to you!" Lily said happily. "I didn't really leave!"  
  
A huge grin appeared on James's face. He hugged her and let her kiss him deeply. As soon as she broke the kiss, the gazed at her, studying her face. He could have sworn her eyes were. . .blue? No, they were green as soon as she blinked. "Something's different about you, Lils. I just don't know what it is," he admitted. Lily stood and smiled.  
  
"Nope, it's just the same old me!" she said jauntily. James shrugged.  
  
"C'mon, change, let's go have breakfast!"  
  
*%&%*  
  
"So you came all the way back for James, huh?" Sirius asked at the table.  
  
"Black, I told you I never left!" Lily snapped.  
  
Sirius looked surprised. "Did you just call me Black?"  
  
Lily shook her head impatiently. "My bad. Sorry, Siri," she apologized. "I guess I'm just a little spaced this morning."  
  
Sirius just shrugged, but James gave her a calculating look.  
  
*%&*^  
  
'. . .A few days later. . .'  
  
"Hey, today everyone's getting back. Want to go to the station?" James asked Lily.  
  
Lily shook her head. "Isn't Sirius going?"  
  
"Yeah. . .so. . .?" James asked.  
  
"Well. . .we can just stay here. More time 'alone,'" she said seductively, emphasizing the word 'alone.'  
  
James grinned, as boy does. "I like the way you think," he complimented.  
  
"Just, hold on a sec, I'm thirsty. . .I've got some soda in my dorm, want some?" Lily offered.  
  
James gave her a look. "You brought a Muggle drink?" he asked mildly. He loved Muggle food and drinks, and whenever he had gone over to Lily's he'd raided the fridge.  
  
"'Course I did!" Lily said, jumping up to retrieve the drinks.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
'Lily', or TAYLOR, raced up to the 6th year girl dorms. It was all part of her plan to get rid of Lily, once and for all. She slipped a potion into a Muggle soda called '7 UP.' The potion would make James tell Lily the exact opposite of what he thought of her. And the opposite that he thought of Taylor. It would also make him act VERY differently than in his normal state to Taylor. She came back down with two sodas in her hands. "Here," she said, handing James the refreshment. He took a sip.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"So, how was your vacation?" Sirius asked Ali as she hopped of the train.  
  
"Great," Ali answered. "But I missed you." They smiled and then hugged, making Sierra wrinkle her nose.  
  
She extended her hands to Remus. "So, what did you guys do?"  
  
"Nothin' much. Just had some family over and that's it," he told her, kissing her cheek. Suddenly, a red haired girl hopped of the train, saying "Wait for me!"  
  
Sirius and Sierra turned, startled to see Lily there. "Lily!" Sierra exclaimed. "What -?"  
  
Sirius and Sierra were switching odd looks. "What?" Lily questioned worriedly. "What'd I do?"  
  
"But you were. . .I mean. . .you spent Christmas with us. . ." Sirius replied faintly.  
  
"Huh?" Lily said quizzically. Sierra shook her head. "Something's going on here, Sirius."  
  
Sirius nodded. "C'mon. We're going back, now."  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
James had Lily straddling across his lap, her hands playing with his hair while he kissed her neck. She moved back up to her mouth and they kissed once more, his arms gradually locking around her waist, as usual. He didn't notice that while they were snogging, the girl on his lap was changing from Lily Evans to Taylor Carrisa.  
  
A sound alerted him. Running inside and then coming to a suddenly halt. James slowly broke from Lily. He turned to see ANOTHER Lily Evans, looking horrified and about to beat the crap out of him (again). He turned confusedly back to the girl on his lap and didn't seem to mind it was Taylor. She grinned. Her plan was working! He grinned thickly and stupidly at Lily. "Hey, Lil," he greeted, sounding out of breath.  
  
She was just standing there, Sirius, Sierra, Ali and Remus standing behind her, ready to hold her back if necessary. "Um. . . this is Taylor -" he began numbly.  
  
"Duh," Lily said, venom lashing out from her mouth as she said the one syllable word.  
  
"I thought I should say that -we're through." James hiccuped. He seemed slightly drunk in some ways. Taylor kept that annoying smile on her face. "I don't really like you. . .I just felt sorry for you in the beginning. . .and you're not even that good of a kisser anyway. Taylor is a true love of my life, and she showed me how wrong I was about you. I'll never love you like I love her," James concluded.  
  
Lily was still having trouble comprehending all of this. She'd just gotten back from a simple Christmas break and walked in on her boyfriend and her worst enemy snogging. He'd told her that he basically hated her, and he's broken up with her. His words stung her soul like a cruel wind on a snowy day. She couldn't even find the strength to beat him up. No matter how much she wanted her boyish side to help out, to hurt him as much as he'd just hurt her, she couldn't help it. She felt her female side taking over her emotions rapidly. Tears quickly welled up in her eyes. Confused, she blinked them out. And after a few minutes of standing there in complete silence, with everyone's eyes on her, she nodded, showing understanding. Somehow, this didn't surprise her one bit anymore. She glanced down and slid the ring James had given her off her finger. "Here," she whispered, handing it to Taylor. "I think you need this more than I do." And with that, she took off to her dorms. 


	17. It wasn't me!

Chapter 16: "IT WASN'T ME!" -Shaggy  
  
Sirius stared at James in utter disbelief, a look similar to the ones that Ali, Sierra and Remus were wearing. "How could you do this to her?" Sirius shouted. James stood angrily, but received a blow in the jaw by Sirius, sending him soaring back into the couch. He faintly touched his jaw where his best friend had hit him.  
  
"Right after Christmas - !"  
  
"Right in her face -!"  
  
"With TAYLOR -!"  
  
"At the park you were -!"  
  
"YOU WERE SERIOUS?!"  
  
Sierra and Sirius began yelling at James, both with color rising in their cheeks. The Black siblings never let anyone mess with one of their friends like this. Remus and Ali were still standing there, mouths hanging open. James was giving them a glazed look; the potion had really affected him. "James, I can't believe you'd do this to Lily. It's so unlike you," Remus said, trying to keep his voice calm, but angry all the same.  
  
"She knew it," Ali said suddenly.  
  
"Knew what?" Sirius asked, not taking his eyes off James.  
  
"Knew she'd be cheated on. Remember? You guys heard us on the train that day. What she thought," Ali finished.  
  
"Hey," Remus commented to Sirius. "Remember the divination predictions? They were right."  
  
Everyone gave James and Taylor a disgusted look and without a word they marched up to Lily's dorm.  
  
*$&$*  
  
Lily was crying quietly over her bed. She hated crying -she wasn't that emotional usually. Regularly if someone made her mad she'd just beat them up (a trick she'd learned from her father about boys), not cry. But James had, once again, betrayed her trust. Somehow, she had a feeling this was Taylor's doing again, and James hadn't seemed himself. She was certain that he would never say anything like that to her, ever. She'd known him longer. Yet she cried in pain. She didn't think she could ever be his girlfriend again, no matter what. . .just his friend. . .maybe.  
  
The door burst open and her friends rushed in, crowding around her bed.  
  
"Lily, we're so sorry about this," Sirius and Remus said promptly.  
  
"James is an ass," Sierra and Ali offered.  
  
"No, no he's not," Lily managed to choke out. The others swapped confused looks.  
  
"Lil, you know what he did was wrong."  
  
"I know that. And James Potter knows that. That person who said that to me was not James Potter," Lily said hoarsely.  
  
Everyone was still confused. "What are you talking about?" Sierra wanted to know.  
  
Lily spoke quietly. "James would never ever EVER say that sort of thing to anyone, no matter what. Especially me. I mean, if he wanted to break up with me fine, but he'd never say that. Taylor must have done something to try and get me mad at him."  
  
Ali sat down next to her best friend. "So . . .if James wants to back, will you?"  
  
Lily shook her head without hesitation. "No. Even if none of this is his fault. I just. . .I need to talk to him. But we're officially broken up."  
  
The group looked around sadly, feeling empty now that one of their friends was in semi-mourning for a boy, another was being seduced by the biggest bitc* in school (A/N: I do swear, but I'm trying to cut down on it, so I won't fully type the *bad* word) and the just about the cutest couple at Hogwarts had broken up.  
  
(A/N: That was sort of a short chapter. . .I mean, from what I usually write. Just in case you were wondering, the potion that Taylor gave James will only last about one hour and then he'll be back to normal. R/R!) 


	18. Sorry, Friend

Chapter 17: Sorry  
  
About two hours later, at ten o'clock, when most of Gryffindor was asleep, Lily crept downstairs once again with her guitar. And James followed, this time completely covered in his Invisibility Cloak. She had her pajamas on, the tank top and baggy P.J pants she'd worn at Sirius's house.  
  
She looked a little more somber than usual, but she nevertheless plucked up a chord on her instrument.  
  
"This is the place in my heart  
  
This is the place where I'm falling apart  
  
Isn't this just where we met?  
  
And is this the last chance that I'll ever get?  
  
I wish I was lonely  
  
Instead of just only  
  
Crystal and see-through  
  
And not enough to you  
  
Cause you don't see me  
  
And you don't need me  
  
And you don't love me  
  
The way I wish you would  
  
Cause you don't see me  
  
And you don't need me  
  
And you don't love me  
  
The way I wish you would  
  
The way I know you could. . ."  
  
James winced, listening to this song. It was the song she always worked on when she was mad at him. . .well, duh she'd be working on it now! "Done," Lily muttered to herself. "I've finally finished the song."  
  
"Lily," James said, a voice coming from no where. But it didn't surprise her. . . she'd suspected him there anyway. She looked up and saw James appearing out of no where, dragging the Invisibility Cloak behind him. Lily stood up and walked a few paces in front.  
  
"Hey. How's Taylor?" Lily asked, unable to stop herself from that vicious comment.  
  
James scowled at her. "You don't believe I meant what I said, do you?"  
  
Lily looked down. "No."  
  
James stepped close enough to her so she could feel his warm and comforting breath on her bare shoulder.  
  
"Then. . .if you don't think I meant all the bad stuff I said. . .why're you mad at me?" James wondered aloud.  
  
Lily stared at him sadly. Her eyes were shinning with tears as she tried hard not to cry again. Slowly, she backed away, eventually plopping down on the red velvet couch behind her. She sighed. "What happened - exactly?"  
  
James shrugged gradually. "Well. . .after my hour of opposite-ness was up. . .Taylor told me that she'd found a potion to make me say everything opposite that I thought of someone. . .and she added one of your hairs, to make me say bad stuff to YOU, specifically. It only lasted for an hour, though. Well -first she took some Polyjuice Potion (at least, I think it was Polyjuice. . .) and she disguised herself as you. 'YOU' supposedly, told me you'd come back as a Christmas surprise. Then on the day the real you came back, Taylor, still looking like you, gave me the potion -"  
  
"Why'd you accept it?" Lily asked.  
  
James grinned weakly. "She offered me a 7 UP. I guess the potion was in there. . .you know I can't resist your Muggle drinks." Lily also half- smiled.  
  
"Then you came. . .and it got ugly. I'm sorry for all the stuff I said before," James added darkly.  
  
"It's ok, I forgive you. . ." Lily started saying, but James rushed in.  
  
"Good, cuz I thought I'd seriously lost you there!" he said, relived. He was surprised to see that Lily didn't share the same excitement. "What's wrong?"  
  
Lily was still gazing at him in an extremely sad way. . .almost like she was trying to remember something about him. "Lil?" James said. Lily glanced down and then looked back up, and James was startled to find tears in her eyes.  
  
"James -I can't see you anymore."  
  
"What?" James yelped, blanching.  
  
"Look, you're my friend, and you always will be, but I'm not sure if you're cut out to be more than my friend. For some reason, I just can't trust you like I used to. . .it's like all the things that've happened to us-weather it was your fault or not-won't go away. If I can't trust you, we don't have anything. Before, you lied, you were framed into cheating on me, you left me out, and again - got framed into playing me! And all the stuff's that happened. . .it hurts. It really hurt me, James!" she cried out. "I can't take anymore of this. And I know it's not your fault. . .but I just. . .I think we need to put this whole thing on pause for a while," Lily finished.  
  
James a gazing at her with a lot of mixed emotions in his eyes. "So, we're just friends?" he said tonelessly.  
  
"Yeah. I just want to start over."  
  
James, however disappointed, understood. He nodded. "So we start from scratch?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Ok, then," he said. He held out his hand to her and said "I'm James Potter, 6th year Gryffindor at Hogwarts, Prefect, and Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."  
  
Lily grinned, although she was very depressed at the moment. "I'm Lily Evans, also a 6th year Gryffindor at Hogwarts and also a Prefect. Nice to meet you James."  
  
"Nice to meet you, Miss Evans."  
  
The shook hands and smiled.  
  
~THE END~  
  
(A/N: Ok, ok, please don't flame me, I KNOW that was a lame *understatement of the century* ending to my fic. . .I'm just trying to write another sequel to this one cuz this fic is getting too long for my compu to hold. But I still have to write their 7th year at Hogwarts and about their future. . .ooh, this should be fun. For now, this ends as them just friends, though. Stay tuned for my next fic please! I promise it won't end as crappily as this! *NEXT FIC COMING SOON!*) 


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